The Sky Fox
by hussbek
Summary: A clash with two jutsus results in Naruto getting a one-way ticket to another world where he has to rescue a man and his daughter. during the rescue, kyuubi's chakra did something that changes the blond's life as well as the people he'll meet in the future. NarutoxHarem with Fem Kyuubi, IchikaxHouki. Crossover with Danball Senki Wars elements
1. Prologue: One Way Ticket and Rescue

**The Sky Fox**

 **Prologue: One Way Ticket and Emergency Rescue**

One starry night in a forest surrounding a rather tall mountain, the atmosphere was serene and peaceful signifying that there was nothing out of the ordinary with no signs of any irregularities.

Suddenly a part of the sky began to distort as purple lightning was discharging in random directions, then a rift slowly opened to reveal a dark void within it. A red streak shot out of it and towards the ground below before crashing hard enough to destroy a lot of the trees and form a large crate.

The smoke cleared away to reveal something or rather someone laying in the middle of the crater sprawled out and unconscious. It is a boy with spiky blond hair and birthmarks on his cheeks that closely resemble whiskers similar to that of a fox, he wears a bright orange jumpsuit with a white tassel on his right shoulder and a red spiral at the back although it looked like something pierced through the jacket as a two holes are seen from the front to the back, blue sandals and a short blue cloth with a metal plate on it and etched into it is a symbol of a leaf.

The boy laid there unmoving and would have remained laying for much longer had it not been for a loud voice calling out to him, the thing was that this voice could not be heard by anyone else as it originates from the boy's mind.

" **Naruto!"** said the voice.

"…,"

" **Come on Naruto, wake up!"**

"…,"

" **Wake up right now!"**

"…ugh," the boy let out a pained groan before slowly opening his cerulean blue eyes to look at the night sky, he slowly sat up and rubbed some parts of his body to try and ease the pain "W-what happen?"

" **Naruto! I'm glad that you're alright!"** said the voice with a tone of relief.

"Kurami-chan, is that you?" asked the boy now known as Naruto.

" **Of course it's me Naruto-kun, who else would have a nine tailed fox sealed in them?"** said the voice now revealed to be Kurami.

If one is wondering how a boy like Naruto has a fox sealed in him, then here's the low down. A few years ago, a ninja village going by the name Konoha was being attacked by a giant nine tailed fox, many ninjas fought back but were no match for the beast. Then the leader of the village also known as Hokage performed a self-sacrificing technique to seal fox within a newborn baby who was none other than Naruto. The dying Hokage had wished for the boy to be seen as a hero for preventing the fox from destroying the village, but the village ignored that wish as they rather saw the boy as the fox reincarnated and mistreated him as such. It was during his C-ranked turned A-ranked mission that he met the fox in his mindscape when he tapped into its chakra.

When Naruto first met the nine tailed fox, he was shocked to find out that the beast was actually a girl whose real name was Kurami. She told him that the fourth Hokage who sealed her within him was actually his father Minato Namikaze and that his mother Kushina Uzumaki was her former container and best friend, she also told him that the night when her mother was giving birth to him, a man proclaiming himself to be Uchiha Madara extracted her from his mother's weakened seal after giving birth to him and used his sharingan to cast a powerful Genjutsu on her to attack the village.

Naruto was shown the memories of that night and when he heard his parent's last words, he did something he thought he wouldn't do for a long time…he cried. He cried tears of joy for knowing that his parents truly loved him despite everything and wanted to make them proud of him. He also couldn't hold it against Kurami as it wasn't her fault and that the Uchiha was to blame for everything. Since then, Naruto and Kurami had formed a strong bond between themselves and were always supporting each other with Kurami lending her chakra in times of need.

"Kurami-chan, what happened? The last thing I remember was that I was fighting Sasuke, then he activated the curse mark and you leant me your chakra to fight back, afterwards we clashed with our strongest jutsus and there was a bright flash of light before I lost consciousness, could the blast have sent us this far?" said Naruto while looking confused.

" **I don't know Naruto-kun, but we should get out of this forest so that we may learn of where we are,"** said Kurami.

"Good idea Kurami-chan, maybe that mountain will serve as a vantage point to scope out the area,"

Naruto proceeded to leap through the trees in direction of the tall mountain, he was halfway towards it when he suddenly heard some strange sounds like something was roaring through the forest but it didn't sound anything like a lion or any other animal. Making sure to exercise caution, he silently approached the source of the sounds. Then he peeked behind a tree and his eyes widened upon what he saw and he wasn't the only one as Kurami was just as surprised.

"What are those things Kurami-chan?" asked Naruto.

" **I don't know, but they seem to be some sort of transportation,"** said Kurami.

What they were looking at seems to be a carriage made entirely of metal and is capable of moving on its own without being pulled by horses or even going along rails like a train. There were three of those vehicles and they watched them pass through a gate into what looks like an abandoned base. The vehicles stopped and the doors opened as men came out dressed in clothes which are not familiar to Naruto at all. They all wore a pair of dark brown boots with camo pants with a dark green flak jacket over black t-shirts and dirty green helmets, and they carry strange looking weapons too.

"Who are these guys? They seem to be ninjas since I don't see any headbands on them," said Naruto as he kept a close eye on them.

" **They give me an impression of being mercenaries and don't seem to be the good kind as I can sense a lot of negativity from them,"** said Kurami with a small frown.

They watched as one of the men walked over to middle vehicle and opened the door to drag out a man wearing a white lab coat who was struggling against the man's grip. They heard the mercenary talk to the man in an unknown language who shook his head in refusal and replied to him in the same language. The mercenary snapped his fingers and one of his cohorts went open the door of another vehicle and dragged out a little brown hair girl wearing a yellow dress who upon seeing the man in the lab coat reached in an attempt to get to him while crying papa and man's eyes widened in shock at seeing the girl and turning to glare angrily at the mercenary who was smirking cruelly.

Naruto was confused at first due to the language, but he finally got what's going on and growled in anger at the mercenaries "This is a kidnapping and those guys are forcing that man to co-operate since they're holding the girl who might be his daughter hostage!" he got ready and was about to jump in to help if Kurami hadn't called out to him.

" **Naruto-kun wait! Don't just go in like that! We don't know what they're capable of and they might hurt them if we do anything reckless,"** said Kurami.

"Then what should we do?" asked Naruto.

" **Best option is to take them down one by one using stealth, and thankfully you have that down with no problem due to your pranks,"** The nine tailed vixen was right, due to Naruto inheriting his mother's tendency to play pranks, he was able to outrun and hide from even the ANBU with no problem. He even painted the Hokage faces in broad daylight and no one noticed until he was done and called out to them to see.

"Okay Kurami-chan, I'll go with your plan. Now let's go save those people,"

Then Naruto took off towards the abandoned base and got close to the entrance before hiding behind a tree where he saw one of the mercenaries standing nearby and serving as a sentry _"I need to lure him away from the entrance and to somewhere I can take him down without the others knowing,"_ he looked around and saw a twig on the ground, he picked it up and broke it in half to making a snapping sound, the guard immediately looked in direction of the sound but then ignored it and remained where he was. Naruto picked up another twig and broke it as well. This time it caught the guard's attention as he cautiously approached the source of the sound, Naruto quickly ran up the tree and hide within the leaves as he waited for the guard to get closer, and when he did Naruto jumped out and landed a chop on the man's neck hard enough to knock him.

Naruto pulled back his left sleeve to reveal a seal which he channeled into it to release a storage scroll which contained ninja tools since he lost the ones in his ninja pouch during his battle with Sasuke. After restocking the pouch, he used ninja wires to tie up the guard and gag him to prevent from making any noise. He then approached the base but didn't go through the door but instead choose to peek in from the windows, he went round the building and found one before sending chakra to his feet as he walked up the wall before peeking through it. There he saw the man in the lab coat being taken into a room while a mercenary took the girl into another room.

" **Naruto-kun, I suggest that you save the girl first and make sure that she's safe before moving on to rescue the man,"** said Kurami.

"Got it," Naruto went around the building after calculating where exactly the room in which the girl is being held, he looked around and saw a small crack in the wall which is obviously too small for him to fit through but there's a reason why Naruto is a ninja. He formed a handsign and called out "Henge!" there was a puff of smoke and in his place was a small brown mouse. He crawled through the crack and made his way through the narrow spaces until reaching the end where he poked his head out and saw the mercenary smirking at the girl who was sitting in a corner quivering in fear. He silently crawled out of the crack and slowly approached him from behind while making sure that he wasn't seen, then he released the jutsu as he pounced the man and knocked him out with a hard chop to the neck.

Naruto tied up the mercenary with ninja wires and turned to check on the girl who was looking at him in wonder "Are you okay?"

The girl said "Chie siete?"

"I can't understand you," Naruto was pointing at his ears and shaking his head signify what he meant.

The girl spoke again, this time in a different language "Who are you?"

Naruto was momentarily surprised to hear her speak his language but quickly snapped back to attention "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

"My name is Sonia Salvatore, please help my papa! Those bad men kidnapped me when I was on my home from school," the girl grabbed onto Naruto with tears in her eyes, Naruto smiled warmly and patted her back.

"Don't worry Sonia-chan, I saw what happened and I promise you that I'll save your dad. Until then I'll need you to stay here where it's safe at the moment," then he crossed his middle and index fingers of each hand together and called out "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" there was a puff of smoke and three copies of Naruto appeared by his side and stood ready, Sonia was staring at them in awe.

"Are you some kind of super ninja? I've only seen stuff like on anime?" she asked curiously much to his confusion.

"Uh…you're about me being a ninja but not a super one, and what is anime?" asked Naruto "Never mind about that now, stay here with my shadow clones while I go and save your dad,"

"Okay,"

Naruto made his way to the door and slowly opened it to check for any sight of the mercenaries, after finding none in the area he stealthily moved towards the door where he saw the man being taken through and discovered that the door was slightly ajar. He peeked through the crack and saw an open safe in the middle of the room and the mercenary was pointing one of those strange weapons only that it was smaller at Sonia's father with an evil smirk.

" **Hurry Naruto-kun, I think that guy's going to kill him!"** Kurami yelled worriedly.

"I know but they're too far away for my kunai or shuriken to reach!" Naruto was thinking frantically until coming upon a last minute idea as he sped through a set of handseals.

At that moment, there was a loud bang from the weapon but the man disappeared from his sight and a boy with yellow spiky hair stood in his place, since he was aiming at the man's head the projectile completely missed due to the height difference. The mercenary's moment of distraction was not lost to Naruto as he connected a jumping roundhouse kick to the head and followed it up with a powerful haymaker punch to send him to the ground knocked out.

"For once I appreciate the academy for teaching us the Kawarimi jutsu as it just helped me save a life," Naruto sighed in relief at the close call that he just made. He heard the door fully open and turned around to see the man approach him with caution.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked the man in Naruto's supposed language.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I was passing through the forest when I saw those guys holding you and your daughter prisoner,"

This made the man look worried "Is she safe?"

"Don't worry, she was the first I went to rescue and I left her with some of my clones so she'll be safe, and I promised her that I'll rescue you as well,"

The man let out a sigh of relief before looking at Naruto with gratitude "Thank goodness, I was so worried about her. My name is Fabio Salvatore and I'm a scientist,"

"It's nice to meet you Fabio-san, now let's get you and your daughter out of here,"

"Wait! Please I need you to help me get back the IS core from those mercenaries!" said Fabio with a look of urgency.

" **Why does he sound so desperate about this 'core'?"** asked Kurami.

Naruto was wondering the same thing and asked for the both of them "What is so important about this core?"

"Because it will upset the power balance throughout the world and the status of Italy will be in jeopardy, and I also need the money from the government funding to wake my wife from her coma, she fell into it after giving birth to Sonia for five years ago and an operation is needed to wake her up but the price was very high," said Fabio.

" _So he wants the core back so that he can use the money to save his wife and reunite her with their daughter,"_ thought Naruto.

They were snapped out of their thoughts when a loud whirring sound from outside the building and Fabio paled in fear.

"Oh no! They're getting away! It's too late!"

Naruto turned and started running for the door very quickly "No it's not! I'll definitely get the core back so that you can get the money to help your wife and Sonia-chan can be with her mother, and I promise that on my nindo, my ninja way!" by then he had already gone out of the building and towards the sound with Fabio watching on with a bit of hope in his eyes.

" _You may be a stranger from out of nowhere, but I can't help but feel like I can count on you for this,"_ thought Fabio, then he turned around and went to look for his daughter.

Naruto was already running through the military base as he pumped chakra to his feet to increase his speed, but his body is reaching his limit due to his previous battle with Sasuke before ending up here. He finally reached the source of the whirring, it was another one of those strange vehicles only that this one didn't have wheels but rather four bladed arms in a cross which were spinning at high speed and was gradually lifting off from the ground into the air.

"You're not getting away from me!" Naruto raced towards the vehicle, one of the mercenaries aimed a turret at him and opened fire, Naruto quickly summoned a dozen clones to distract them while darting left and right to evade the high speed projectiles. He wanted to wrap an explosive tag to a kunai and throw it at the flying transport in order to bring it down, but he couldn't risk damaging the core.

The vehicle was slowly ascending to sky as his clones were getting decimated from being shot at, Naruto quickly ran up a nearby building and was running towards it with the intention to jump on board but his exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on his body.

"Damn! I might not be able to make it unless…Kurami-chan, I need you to lend me some of your chakra!" said naruto with urgency.

" **I gave you a large amount of chakra during your fight against sasuke which was more than your body could handle. If I send chakra through your body again after such a short time, it will forcefully shut down,"** said Kurami worriedly.

"Just a little more, I need to get the core back no matter what! I promised them after all," said Naruto.

"… **Okay, but you have to end this as soon as possible. Your body can only take this much right now,"**

Naruto felt the vixen's chakra flow throughout his body as a red aura is emitting from his body and he was moving more quickly than before "Thanks Ku-chan," he reached the edge of the building and pumped chakra to his legs before jumping high into the air as he got close enough to the flying vehicle to grab onto the railing as it was trying to stabilize its flight.

He pulled himself up and into the machine to see one of the mercenaries holding a blue globe in his hands.

" **That's must the core which Fabio was talking about,"** said Kurami.

The man yelled something at him before taking out one if those handheld weapons and started shooting at him, Naruto rolled to the side but one of the shots grazed the shoulder of the man controlling the vehicle, causing him to cry out in pain and making it tilt to the right. The mercenary surprised by the sudden movement let go of the core for it to fall to the ground below.

"Dammit!" Naruto dived after it but not before twisting in midair to throw a kunai with an explosive tag attached, causing the vehicle to explode. "Come on come on!" Naruto was catching up to the descending core and managed to grab it in his arms but he didn't notice was that Kurami's chakra had flowed into the core, causing it to glow brightly as he crashed into the ground for the second time on his back. the crash combined with his exhaustion were enough to completely knock him for a quite while.

"That's hurts..a lot… but at least… I was able to…save the core…but why does it feel...like I'm holding…something else?" thought Naruto as he lost consciousness.

Fabio had reunited with Sonia and were making their way where they saw Naruto, only to see him jump off a helicopter after a falling IS core while glowing in red energy. They hurried over to where he crashed with worry in their hearts.

"Papa, is he okay?!" asked Sonia with tears in her eyes.

Fabio grabbed the boy's wrist and was relieved to get a pulse, "He's okay, he's just unconscious but we need to get him to a hospital," however his eyes widened upon what he was seeing right now "What?! How could this have happened?"

What Fabio was seeing wasn't Naruto holding the core…but the fact that he was seeing the blond haired boy holding _two_ IS cores!

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the prologue of my first Naruto/Infinite Stratos crossover fanfic. This story came into mind with the help of my friend WelshDragon18. Naruto will own two IS and will also have a harem while Ichika will be paired up with Houki and maybe one more as the story progresses. Notice that his two IS will based on the robots from Danball Senki Wars, you'll find out about the models on the next chapter.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	2. Hitting a Reset Button for a New Life

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 1: Hitting a Reset Button for a New Life**

"…Ugh," Naruto let out a groan as he sat up while rubbing his head to ease off the headache "That wasn't the first time I fell from a great height but it doesn't mean that it won't hurt the same though," he looked around to find himself in the middle of a forest where he could hear the sounds of animals echoing through the trees, a place he was more familiar with than the previous forest.

This place is his mindscape where he usually meets Kurami within the seal. Originally it was a dreary sewer with a cage which Kurami would be behind with the kanji seal on it until he met her and changed it into the forest with animals and a mansion much to her joy. He got up from the ground and began to make his way to the mansion and talk about what's going on. He had finally reached his destination when he suddenly sensed something approaching quickly from behind and turned around just to be tackled to the ground by a red blur before feeling two soft mounds pressed against his chest, making him blush tomato red as he knew who had just tackled him.

"Kurami-chan, could you please get off? I'm finding it hard to breathe," said Naruto.

" **Okay Naruto-kun, but you have no idea how worried I was,"** said Kurami as she got off for Naruto to sit up and take a good look at her.

She was a woman with fiery red hair that reached her waist with a single hair strand sticking out from the top in between her fox ears, she wears a red kimono with fox designs on it which fits her voluptuous figure with the cleavage of her DD-cup breasts peeking out and there's a hole for her nine tails to poke out freely (Think of Rias from Highschool DXD).

"Sorry if I worried you Kurami-chan, anyway I wanted to talk to you about our current situation right now. With what we've seen like those metal carriages, flying machines and other stuff, I'm getting the sinking feeling that we've ended up somewhere that is not on the map of the Elemental Nations," said Naruto.

" **I'm afraid you're only half right Naruto-kun, it's not that we got blown into a different region but a different** _ **dimension**_ **,"** said Kurami.

Naruto looked shocked upon hearing what the vixen had just said "What? But how could that have happened?"

" **It must have been that the differing chakras from the clash between you and the Uchiha that had resulted in tearing open a rift which you must have fallen into and we ended up here,"**

"Is there any way for us to go back?" Naruto looked at her with hope in his eyes but was disheartened when he saw her shake her head sadly.

" **Unless we recreate the clash of those two jutsus, we're stuck here and who knows if we would even return to our dimension if we can't control the rift,"**

The whole place was silent for several minutes until it was finally broken by Naruto "So what do we do now? With no way to go back, how are we going to live in this dimension?"

Kurami was deep in thought for a moment and she spoke up **"You could ask Fabio-san for help, I'm sure he'll be willing to give us information about this new world and then we'll know where to go from there,"**

"I'll do that, he seems like a nice guy. So I'll ask him when I wake up," Naruto, then he began to fade away from the mindscape which signifies that he's waking up in reality.

" **This could also be a chance for new life for you Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami softly.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes only to squeeze them shut to block out the bright light which shone down on his face. He pulled the blanket off his body to see that he was wearing a white gown and looked around to see that he was in a white room with green curtains and could even smell the anesthetic in the air.

" _I guess I must be in a hospital ward, makes sense that I would end up here after what happened back in the forest,"_ thought Naruto,

Then he heard a sound beside him and turned to see a brown hair which he immediately recognized it to be Sonia who rested her head beside his bed and was sleeping, he leaned over and shook her awake as she raised her head and let out a cute yawn. Sonia drowsily rubbed her eyes and looked around a bit before she saw Naruto smiling at her.

"Naruto! You're finally awake!" said Sonia as she happily hugged the blond "I have to go and let papa know!" then she ran out of the room before Naruto could say anything.

" _She sounded very happy to see me,"_ thought Naruto.

 **"It's obvious, especially since you kept your promise to save her and her father,"** said Kurami.

Then the door open to reveal Sonia returning with her father Fabio who smiled upon seeing Naruto.

"It's good to see that you're finally awake Naruto," said Fabio.

Hearing this made Naruto quirk an eyebrow in confusion "What do you mean by that? How long was I out?"

"Ever since you fell from the helicopter, you had been unconscious for almost week. The doctor said you would have taken a month or more to recover, but it was a surprise when you recovered much quickly than he estimated,"

"Let's just say that it is a trait which I possess, since I always heal quickly from things like this," said Naruto.

"Is it one of your powers like the one where you can make copies of yourself?" Sonia asked curiously, which caught Fabio's attention as he recalled the surprise he had when he went to look for Sonia only to come upon her being surrounded by clones of the boy who offered to retrieve the IS core for him before disappearing in puffs of smoke when they saw him.

"Not exactly Sonia-chan, it's actually called a jutsu which can only be performed when I use the energy from within my body," said Naruto looking sheepish.

"Well I have to say that I'm truly grateful for saving us as well as recovering the IS core. I'm sure your parents would be proud if they heard of what you did, which brings me to ask why a young boy like you is wondering around the forest alone instead of being with your parents?" asked Fabio.

"The thing is…I'm not from around here and I'm an orphan. My parents died to protect me from danger when I was just a baby," said Naruto while smiling sadly.

" **I'm sorry Naruto-kun, it was my fault that you were alone all this time,"** said Kurami with her ears drooping and her tails falling limp on the ground.

" _No it wasn't your fault Kurami, all of it was because of that Uchiha-Teme. And I wasn't truly alone…since you were there for me the most even if we met for the first time during the mission at the Nami no Kuni,"_

" **Naruto-kun…,"**

"I apologize, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, but what about your other relatives?" asked Fabio after apologizing.

"It's okay since you didn't know, and I don't know of any other relatives," said Naruto.

"If so then you could stay with us for the time being,"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at what he heard "A-are you sure? I don't want to be a bother,"

"Oh no, not at all. It's the least I could do for you, and I'm sure Sonia would like for you to stay and I would to introduce my wife to the one who helped saving her from the coma,"

At first Sonia was sad when she heard that her hero is an orphan and didn't know his parents unlike her but then started to jump for joy when her father offered for him to stay with them "Please Naruto, I really want you to stay with us so that you can see mama with me when she wakes up,"

Naruto looked deep in thought but he was actually within his mindscape talking to Kurami.

"What do you think Kurami-chan?"

" **You should accept it Naruto-kun, plus we could learn a lot of things with them and they're really nice people from what I've seen,"** said Kurami.

Naruto nodded before retreating to his consciousness, then he turned to Fabio and Sonia with a smile "I would like accept your offer if that's okay,"

Fabio smiled widely while Sonia hugged Naruto tightly out of sheer joy.

A few days later, Naruto was finally discharged from the hospital and moved in with Fabio and Sonia in their home at Sorrento. Due to his lack of knowledge about this new world, Fabio enrolled Naruto in an international school and transferred Sonia there as well much to his chagrin since he thought he would never have to go to school again since the ninja academy. At first he was put off but then started to have fun especially since things here are just as interesting as those in his old world, he excelled in his lessons and skipped a few grades thanks to his shadow clones secondary ability, something which Fabio envies him for. He also excelled in sports which was a piece of cake due to his ninja training which he continues to do and acquired several scholarships, however he ran into an issue called 'fan girls' who constantly pursued him because of his looks (For once he could sympathize with Sasuke on this one since he stand this throughout the academy) and guys try to bully him because of it due to jealously but they had no idea who they were messing with. The next day, the students saw a few of their fellow classmates walking in with their hair dyed yellow and someone drew whiskers on their cheeks with a permanent marker, many parents reported to the teachers but they didn't have any solid evidence that it was Naruto much to their ire as the blond simply stood there with a golden halo hovering above his head before it was replaced with devil horns when they turned away.

Life with the Salvatores was the best thing to happen to Naruto, Fabio was like a father to him just like Iruka and adopted his habit for inventions, and Sonia was like the little sister he never had while she saw him as her big brother who would always spend time with her. It got a whole lot better when Fabio's wife Maria Salvatore woke up from her coma after the operation, it was a tearful family reunion for the Salvatores and when she learnt about Naruto and how he rescued them from the mercenaries, she adopted him into the family right then and there and was quite the mother hen much to his embarrassment but he found it comforting since he never felt a mother's love before. So from then on, he was Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore.

 *****Time Skip*****

Today Naruto was following Fabio to his facility called the Stellare enterprise, it was were Fabio and his team of scientists were building an IS to insert the core within it and then find a suitable pilot who would bring out its potential and represent Italy among the ranks of the world. Naruto had read quite a bit about the Infinite Stratos or IS for short, he read that it is a multiform suit that was originally designed to be operated in outer space but was halted and due to a treaty called 'The Alaska Treaty', the military is prohibited from using the IS and is rather used for competitions and sports. But the thing is…the IS can only be operated by women.

"No matter how many times I come here, this place still amazes me," said Naruto as he looked around and waved at some of the staff who waved back as they're familiar with him since he comes to the facility often, then he turned his attention back to his father "So tou-san, have you learnt anything new about the second core?"

A few days after being discharged from the hospital, Fabio told Naruto about how he found him holding another IS core with him which confused Naruto since he retrieved only one IS core, then Fabio theorized that maybe the IS core absorbed his chakra which resulted its creation and Kurami seconded that as she felt her chakra being drained into it. Naruto had told the Salvatores where he really came from but they still accepted him as part of the family especially Sonia, and promised not to reveal it to anybody much to his surprise and then joy.

"Nothing new has been discovered, so far what my team and I know is that the second core is just as original as the other IS cores we've seen and there are no irregularities," said Fabio.

"Can I check it out? Not like I have anything to do right now,"

"Of course son take your time, I'll be over soon with my associates," Fabio took out a keycard and handed it over to Naruto before walking away. Naruto pocketed the keycard and walked towards the research room while saying hello to the people working there. He soon reached a high tech door with a control panel next to it and cameras all around.

" _Ever since the mercenary incident, they've really upped the security around here,"_ thought Naruto.

" **They don't want a second theft especially now that there are two cores,"** said Kurami.

Naruto placed a hand on the scanner, followed by punching the access codes before taking out the keycard and swiping it on the slot. The control panel beeped a few times before displaying 'Access Granted' and the doors opened for him to pass through. Naruto entered to find himself in a white room where there is a pedestal at the center and the two IS cores were on top of it.

"To think that these are the hearts of potentially powerful suits," said Naruto as he stood before the pedestal and was looking at the cores. He reached to touch them but when his hands made contact, the cores suddenly glowed brightly and he felt a strange sensation course through his hands and into his brain before he could pull back.

" **Nar…uto...wh…oing…on?! Some…happ…her…,"** Naruto could barely hear what Kurami is trying to say as his mind went black.

He opened his eyes and looked around only to find himself standing in the middle of an unusually calm ocean with a cloudy blue sky over his head.

"Where am I?" Naruto could hear his voice echo as he spoke out. Suddenly he sensed someone from behind, then he quickly turned around and was about to drop into a fighting stance when he stopped upon seeing who it was…or rather who they were.

The first is a woman with pale skin and long red hair which reached her waist with one side held up by a black hairclip, she wears a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist.

The other is a man with spiky blond hair like his own except his bangs reached his jaws, he wears the Konoha ninja uniform, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. Over it he wears a short-sleeved long white haori which is decorated by red flame-like motifs on the edges with the kanji for 'Fourth hokage' written vertically down the back.

Naruto took a step back as he stared at them in disbelief, he knew who they were from the memories which Kurami showed to him. The woman let out a gasp when she saw him along with the man.

"Naruto…is that really you?" that was what the woman asked.

"yes it's me…Kaa-san," no sooner he said that than a red blur tackled him into a tight hug, he felt his shirt becoming wet as he heard her sobbing which made him start to cry as well while the man approached the scene with a gentle smile.

"Kushina-chan, you're suffocating him," said the man.

"You've grown so much and you look just like Minato-kun except your whisker marks make you look so cute," she broke from the bear hug and was looking at him with motherly care, something he felt from Maria, his surrogate mother.

"Thanks Kaa-san, Kurami-chan said I inherited my love for pranks and ramen from you," Naruto replied happily much to her glee "But how did you end up here?"

"When you made contact with the IS core while using Kurami-san's chakra. It drew in our chakra which we placed in the seal from it and duplicated itself for each," said Minato.

"So you mean you're in the cores, that explains why Fabio-san and the others couldn't learn anything more,"

Then Minato had a look of sadness and regret "Naruto…I saw what the villagers did to you through the seal and I'm so sorry for sealing Kurami into you, Kushina warned me about what would have happened but I was too naïve to believe that they would ignore my wish to see you as a hero,"

Naruto shook his head and smiled at his father "It's okay tou-san, I saw all that happened through Kurami's memories and understood why you did it. You entrusted Kurami to me because you believed in me, your own flesh and blood, and Kurami had been there for me when I was in trouble,"

"I'm so glad that Kurami-chan had been there to protect you all this time, especially from Sasuke. I still can't believe that Mikoto-chan's son would end up like that," said Kushina.

"So what happens now?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Well since you made a connection with us, that means you'll be able to use the IS we would be inserted into," said Minato after thinking deeply.

"What? But only women can use an IS and I'm a guy,"

"That would have been so if this had not happened, we'll be training you in our arts. Kushina-chan and I will teach you about seals, Kushina will be teaching you kenjutsu and I will be teaching you taijutsu among other things so I suggest that you and your surrogate father keep this a secret until you're ready,"

"Okay tou-san, kaa-san. I have to get going but I'll be sure to return," said Naruto as he slowly faded away.

"Come back soon sochi-kun," said Kushina while waving at Naruto who simply grinned like a fox.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around to see that he was still in the containment room with his hands still on the cores.

" _I guess time slows down there just like in my mindscape,"_ thought Naruto.

Then he heard Kurami's voice in his mind **"Naruto-kun! Are you okay? I felt our connection being severed when you touched the cores, did something happen?"**

" _Something did happen Kurami-chan,"_ said Naruto with a smile, then he told her of his encounter with his parents within the cores, the vixen was happy that he got to meet them.

Later when Naruto and Fabio returned to their homes, he repeated what happened to his new family. They were surprised by all especially since this makes Naruto the first ever male IS pilot in the world, Fabio decided to train Naruto alongside his team of scientist. Although the Alaska treaty says that the owners of IS should always disclose their research to the world for all to see, Fabio made it look like they were searching for suitable IS pilots while continuing to build the IS before disclosing the info at a later time so as to give Naruto more time to train in his ninja arts while at the same time learning about the modern weapons like handguns, machineguns, rifles and rocket launchers.

With the help of Fabio and his father, Naruto really got into inventing a lot of gadgets with some able to link him directly to the two IS and speak with them without having to go and touch the cores to speak with them.

Meanwhile with his parents, Kushina taught him her sword style known as the Whirlpool sword style which can make use of both single and dual blades something which he has a talent for much to her joy. Minato taught him his taijutsu called the Hummingbird style which is based on high speed strikes and counter attacks. But together they taught him about seals Naruto had quite a knack and even went to creating new seals due to his curious nature.

Aside from all this, Naruto continues to spend time with the Salvatores and go to school like always while waiting for the right time to announce his presence to the world that a maelstrom is coming, not knowing that the time will come soon enough and is going to be a wild ride.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, this chapter centers on Naruto now living in the new world and also discovering that he is the first ever male IS pilot in the world. The reason why he won't announce his presence yet is because he was to undergo training in both the ninja arts and modern weapons, plus if they were to know then the government would have instantly shipped him off to the IS academy without proper training as you've noticed that most IS candidates/representatives had some training before enrollment. In other words, Naruto would technically be the first while Ichika would gain the title.**

 **About the pairings, I decided to have Naruto go with Cecilia, Charles, Laura, Tabane and a few others if you want, while Ichika will be paired up with Houki and maybe Ling if you want.**

 **Here are the IS which Naruto will be using:**

 **Odin (with Kushina's core)  
Second Shift: Odin MK 2  
One Off Ability: Extreme Mode  
Firearms: Dual semi-automatic handguns, Assault Rifle, Rocket Launcher  
Armaments: Retaliator, Beam Guarder, Dual Katana, Zanbatou (Zabuza's sword)**

 **Dot-Phasor with flight capabilities (with Minato's core)  
Second Shift: Dot-Blastrizer  
One Off Ability: Overload  
Armaments: Multi Gimmick Sack (Z-lance, Z-hammer, Z-shooter, Z-sword, Z-rifle, Z-shield), Dot Gatling gun**

 **Naruto can empower his weapons by channeling his chakra through, and he can also perform attack functions although they will cost shield energy depending on which technique performed. Also chances of the cores being transferred to other IS (more LBX models) is possible but the first two will be his main duo IS.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	3. A Fox's Debut

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 2: A Fox's Debut**

"Haaaaah, I'm so bored right now," those were the words of a spiky blond haired teenager who was currently in class and was staring at the blue sky through the window with a long of boredom. This was none other than Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore. Much has changed for him in the past years as he has grown several inches taller, his spiky hair has grown bangs to reach his jaws just like his dad and has gotten even stronger than he was before.

Right now he's wearing a black t-shirt with a Konoha leaf in front, an orange open sleeveless vest with a red spiral at the back, blue jeans and pair of white sneakers with yellow highlights.

He was waiting impatiently for the bell to ring as a signal of school being over which isn't surprising due to inability stay in one place without doing anything. Finally the bell rang much to his relief as he slung his backpack over a shoulder and made his way to the entrance of the school. He walked under tree and something jumped from the branches and landed on his left shoulder.

It was a small red fox with a long bushy tail, it let out a happy yip as it curled its tail around his neck and rubbed against his cheek lovingly.

"Hey there Kurami-chan, did you miss me?" said Naruto with a chuckle.

" **It was very boring around here Naruto-kun, there was nothing to do since I've already explored the entire city,"** said Kurami through their mind link.

With the help of his parents, Naruto was able to modify the seal such that he could let Kurami out with a tails worth of chakra so she could roam freely though she prefers to hang around Naruto a lot and when she's not with him, then you could find her with Sonia or Maria.

"I feel the same way Kurami-chan, let's wait for Sonia- chan to come out so that we can get home and maybe do a little more training. I need to work on how to add my wind element to the Rasengan," said Naruto.

They didn't have to wait for long as they saw many children walking out of the school building with one of the kids running towards them. She is a brown haired girl wearing a yellow dress with sunflower prints with a red jacket worn over it.

"Hi Naruto and Kurami!" said Sonia with a smile to which Naruto smiled back and Kurami let out a happy yip.

"Hey Sonia-chan, how was your day in school?" asked Naruto.

"It was okay, I was able to get an A+ on my cake in cooking class," said Sonia while doing a victory sign with her fingers.

"That's amazing Sonia-chan, maybe on the weekend you could bake a cake for us to try out," Naruto petted her head as she giggled.

Then they walked towards the school gate and upon reaching it, Naruto reached into his pocket and took an orange handheld device and flipped it open to reveal two screens with the bottom a touchscreen, on the left is a directional pad while the right side is the keypad **(Think of the Sinnoh Pokédex from Pokémon for better understanding)**. Naruto tapped a wheel icon on the touchscreen before typing a few codes on the keypad then a feminine AI voice spoke up.

[Autopilot activated, Kitsune cycle en route to rider]

It didn't take more than one minute when they heard the rev of an engine and an unmanned motorcycle came to a stop before them. It is a motocross bike with white body paint and vinyl sticker of a large red fox with nine tails on each side. Naruto purchased the bike before customizing it with the technology from the Stellare enterprise which he calls the Kitsune cycle.

Then they got on the bike and put on their helmets with Sonia wrapping her arms around Naruto's waist from behind and Kurami sitting in front before Naruto revved the engine and took off in direction of home. After taking a detour to buy some ice cream, they finally arrived home as Naruto parked the bike in the garage with Sonia waiting for him before entering the house together.

"Mom! We're home!" they called out at the same time, then they heard a feminine voice call out from the kitchen.

"Welcome home you three! Dinner's almost ready, so go and get yourselves cleaned up!" said Maria.

"Okay mom,"

Then they went upstairs to their bedrooms to change clothes before coming back down and sitting in the living room, with Naruto lounging on the sofa and using his S-Touch **(The handheld from before)** to check for anything interesting online while nodding his head to some music from his wireless headphones, Kurami was on the sofa with him relaxing as well and Sonia was using the remote to flip through the channels on the plasma TV to see if something interesting was on.

"Naruto!"

The said blonde was snapped out of his browsing online and turned to see Sonia looking excited and pointing at the TV.

"What's the matter Sonia-chan?" asked Naruto as he closed the S-Touch and took off the headphone while looking confused at her sudden behavior.

"Look at the TV! I just heard something about a male using an IS!" said Sonia excitedly.

Hearing this made Naruto snap his head towards the TV to listen attentively to what the newscaster has to say with Kurami listening as well since this is unheard of especially when his being a male IS pilot is a well-kept secret for the meantime.

"In later news. Orimura Ichika, an average Japanese third year student of Aoetsu Private School has been discovered to be the first ever male to be use an IS which has been known to react to only females. As of now, Orimura Ichika has been enrolled in the IS study program over at the IS academy in Japan, more information is yet to be discovered until further notice. And now we bring you the weather forecast," said the female newscaster.

"Whoa, I never thought that there would be another male IS pilot like me," said Naruto.

"But they were wrong, _you're_ the first male IS pilot," said Sonia with a cute pout, making Naruto pat her head while smiling.

"Technically yes, but remember that we kept it a secret otherwise they would have made me go without being prepared or for that matter leave you and mom alone back then, and I know that you wouldn't like that,"

"Boooo, when you say it like that…well I wouldn't have liked it at all," Sonia admitted to the logic.

" **So what happens now Naruto-kun?"** asked Kurami from the top of his shoulders.

"Let's wait for dad to get back home from work, then we'll talk about my next move," Naruto replied.

Later that evening, Fabio had returned from his job at the Stellare Enterprise and was currently sitting in the living room along with Naruto, Kurami, Maria and Sonia. Naruto took out a blue cube and placed it on the table before pressing a button, then the cube lit up and displayed a hologram of Minato and Kushina.

"Good evening Minato-san and Kushina-san," said Maria.

"Good evening to you too," said Minato with a bow.

"Hello Maria-chan," said Kushina happily before turning to Naruto "Hello Sochi-kun, how was school today?"

"It was okay kaa-san," said Naruto.

Fabio cleared his throat to get their attention "Well then, I'm sure you heard about the news of the male IS pilot in japan?"

"That we did, although it surprised us that there would be another like our son," said Minato.

"The same could be said for my team and I when we heard about it from the government, so the question is what we do about it,"

Minato looked at Kushina who nodded at him before he spoke up "I believe the time has come for Naruto to go to the IS academy," this made everyone look at the older blond in surprise.

"Are you sure dad? You told me that I wasn't ready yet the last time I spoke about this subject," said Naruto.

"It's true I said that, but what you need is experience when battling against another IS since you only experienced a lot of battles in our old world,"

"And we can still continue your training over there, besides I need to find the right girl or rather _girls_ for you so that I can spoil some grandkids," said Kushina with a blissful look on her face with Maria nodding in agreement while Naruto was blushing and both fathers were chuckling though Sonia looked a bit down.

"Does this mean you're leaving me?" said Sonia in a sad tone.

Naruto walked over to her before lifting her up and placing her on his lap "It may seem that way, but that doesn't mean that I won't come back from time to time or make contact with you Sonia-chan,"

"Then do you promise to come back to see us?"

"Of course, you know that I always keep my promises," said Naruto with a foxy grin to which Sonia smiled and hugged him with their parents watching them with smiles.

"So when do you plan on leaving?" asked Maria.

"Tomorrow, I don't wanna make that guy feel lonely in a school full of girls now do I?" said Naruto with a smirk.

The next morning, Naruto had packed his clothes in a suitcase before sealing it away in a scroll which he placed in his old ninja pouch. Then he with Kurami on his shoulder stood at the doorway with the Salvatores standing before him.

"I've packed some lunch for you to eat on your trip to japan, and make sure to eat well. I don't want you to live on only ramen okay?" said Maria.

"Okay mom," said Naruto.

"I sent information about you as well as the data on the two IS to the government, so they should be ready for you when you arrive at the academy," said Fabio

"Won't they be angry with you for keeping this from them for so long?"

"Normally yes, but I'm sure the data and your performance in the future should be enough to placate them and leave me with nothing but a slap on the wrist,"

Then Sonia came forward and held out a golden locket to him, Naruto took it and opened to see a picture of him and the family smiling happily. He bent down and gave her a warm hug before wearing it around his neck alongside the Hokage necklace that Tsunade gave to him.

"Thank you Sonia-chan, I'll treasure it always," said Naruto, then he used his S-Touch to summon the Kitsune cycle from the garage. He got on and revved the engine "Goodbye everyone, wish me luck and I promise to keep in contact with you," he rode off with the Salvatores waving as they watched him leave.

With that, Naruto had a 60km ride from Sorrento to the Naples International Airport where he had booked a ticket to Japan last night. He rode first class while enjoying the lunch his mother gave to him and read a magazine to while away the time until arriving at the Tokyo International Airport. After leaving the airport, he went into an alley and unsealed the Kitsune cycle from a scroll **(He sealed it before boarding the plane while Kurami went back into the seal)** and was pressing a few buttons on the S-Touch.

"Give me a route to the IS academy," said Naruto as he pressed the enter key.

[Processing…complete, route to IS academy created. Please follow the path set on the GPS on your goggles] said the AI **(AN I might need a name)**

Naruto put on a pair of goggles which the HUD activated and displayed the map, then he rode towards his destination which took a while before finally arriving at the front gates of the IS academy

Naruto summoned Kurami from the seal as they marveled at the sight of the place. The IS academy is on an offshore island which he had to take a monorail **(A train running on a single rail)** from the mainland. The place has a very futuristic look with all domes scattered throughout, there are also plenty of trees and parks, and what caught their eye was the branch-like tower at the center.

" **This place looks amazing,"** said Kurami who was in awe.

"I know, we need to chronicle this moment," Naruto took out his S-Touch and activated the camera function, then he positioned himself with his back to the academy and pointed it at himself and Kurami as they both smiled before taking the picture "Sonia-chan would love to see this selfie," then he pressed a button which sent the image to Sonia's email address "Let's go and get signed up,"

They went past the gate and walked along the path while following the holographic signs that appeared along the path until locating the administrative building, he made his way to the reception table where a lady was typing away on a futuristic computer. The woman raised her head and quirked an eyebrow upon seeing a blond haired boy with a fox sitting around his shoulders and wondered what he was doing here.

"Can I help you sir?" asked the receptionist.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore, I believe this will explain everything to you," Naruto took out an envelope with the Italian government seal on it and held it out to her.

The receptionist took the envelope and broke the seal to read the letter, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the boy who was sharing the same grin with the fox "So you're the one the Italian government sent for?" she received a nod from the boy, then the receptionist reached into her desk and took out a brown parcel which she held for Naruto to take "Inside is your uniform and according to what I've been told, your classroom is…

* * *

In a certain class, a boy with black hair that is parted in the middle sits up front and in the middle row of the class while surrounded by girls. He gulped nervously as he could practically feel their stares boring into the back of his head.

" _I don't really to be here with all these girls surrounding me, it feels so awkward. I kinda wish for another guy to be here with me,"_ thought the boy, then he heard the door open and looked up to see someone enter the classroom.

She is a woman with short green hair, a voluptuous figure with a notable bust and wears glasses. She also wears a revealing yellow dress with short sleeves and knee high boots.

"Hello and congratulations on entering this school, my name is Maya Yamada and I am the assistant homeroom teacher," said the newly identified Maya with a bright smile.

"…"

Apparently no one paid any attention to what she said as their main source of attention is the boy who couldn't bring himself to even turn his head.

"Uuuummmm, how about we move on to the self-introductions. We're going according to the numerical order on the attendance list,"

" _This is so awkward,"_ the boy took a side glance at a girl sitting at the far end of the classroom. She has long purple hair tied in a ponytail with a green and black ribbon. She notices him looking at her as if asking for her help but she simply turned away much to his shock _"Is that how you act towards your childhood friend after we haven't seen each other for 6 years? Does she hate me?"_

"Ichika Orimura-kun?" he snapped out of his depression upon hearing his name, he looked up to see Maya staring while the girls around were giggling at his absentmindedness.

"Sorry for bothering you, but having started from 'A' on the attendance list we moved on to 'O' so could you please introduce yourself?" said Maya.

"O-okay," Ichika was about to stand up and introduce himself when there was a knock on the door.

"Just a moment," Maya turned to the door "You may come in please,"

The door slid open and someone entered the classroom which everyone let out a gasp in surprise with Ichika being the most affected.

They were looking at a male teenager with height a of 175cm which is a bit taller than Ichika, blond spiky hair with the bangs reaching his jaws, what stood out was the whisker markings on his cheeks. What really caught their attention was that he was wearing a white blazer with long trousers, not only that but he had a small red fox curled around his shoulders.

For him to wear their uniform must mean that he is a new student of the IS academy and also…another _male IS pilot!_

"Hello, sorry I'm late but I was a little delayed during the registration and got myself lost while trying to find my new class," said the blond haired fox while rubbing the back of his head and looking sheepish.

Maya still looked stunned upon seeing another boy in the school but she finally snapped out of it and politely responded "O-oh no, it's no problem at all. We were just having our self-introductions at the moment, you can take your seat right next to Orimura-kun,"

"Thanks sensei," said Naruto with a foxy grin which made her among a few girls blush and think of how cute he looks along with his fox. Naruto took his seat and looked at Ichika before giving him a smile which he returned with his own, feeling quite relieved that he wasn't the only guy anymore.

"Oh yes before that, Orimura-kun was about to introduce himself," said Maya.

"Y-yes," then Ichika stood up from his looking all the while nervous as the girls stared at him intensely "Erm…my name is Ichika Orimura, pleased to meet you," everyone remained silent as they wanted to hear more about "Urm that's all," this led to everyone doing a comical collapse at such a short introduction while Naruto was laughing out loud "D-did I do it wrong?"

"Dude, that's not how you introduce yourself. You're supposed to tell them your name along with your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams," said Naruto.

"Oh so that's how it's done?" said Ichika with all the girls nodding in affirmation.

" **You can't blame him since he was nervous at the time,"** said Kurami through the mind link.

"That's right, let me show you what I mean by introducing myself," Naruto stood as Ichika sat down with everyone listening attentively to the second male IS pilot "My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore, my likes are ramen, the color orange, my precious people. My dislikes are the ten minutes it takes to cook instant ramen, traitors and perverts. My dream is to be the strongest Sora no Kage and protect all those precious to me. My hobbies are inventing, gardening and playing pranks,"

Many of the girls let out squeals upon hearing his introduction while Ichika looked at Naruto with understanding and respect.

"At least his introduction is much better than yours which was quite short and pathetic," everyone turned to the source of the stern voice, she is a tall woman with long black hair which Naruto noticed is split into two parts just like Ichika which made him wonder if they're related somehow. She wears a formal white shirt with a black business overcoat and a matching skirt, green tie, stockings and high heeled but didn't fail to showcase her good figure.

" _Wow she looks beautiful,"_ thought Naruto.

Kurami was pouting until she took a closer look at the woman **"Naruto-kun, be careful around her,"**

" _What makes you say that?"_ Naruto looked at her before realizing what she meant _"I think I get what you're talking about, her stance reminds me of Kakashi-sensei and the others Jounins back at home. Which means there's more to her than meets the eye,"_

On the other hand, Ichika seemed to know the woman as he called out to her in surprise "Chifuyu-nee?! What are y- gah!" he was reeling in pain from receiving a bonk in the head courtesy of the woman.

"Call me Orimura-sensei when in school," said Chifuyu sternly.

"Why is she here? I never get to see her because of her mysterious job," thought Ichika as he massaged his head to ease the pain.

"I guess they're related," thought Naruto.

Chifuyu walked over to Maya and gave her a nod before turning to the class "Allow me to introduce myself, I am your homeroom teacher Chifuyu Orimura. It's my job to completely train you in one year, even if you dislike my attitude you will do as I say. Understood?"

Instead of the girls feeling awkward from the introduction, they rather let out shrieks of joy.

"Kyaah! It's the real Chifuyu-sama!"

"I've always been your fan!"

"I came all the way from Hokkaido to be taught by you!"

Naruto, Kurami and Ichika sat there stunned at the fangirlism before them.

" _Whoa, she must be popular to get a reception like this. But haven't I heard of her from somewhere?"_ thought Naruto.

" **Yes you did, Fabio-san told us that Chifuyu is a former IS pilot representative of Japan who has never been defeated in a single match, but then she suddenly retired and had never been heard from ever since,"** said Kurami,

" _She almost seems like a Kage to be that strong,"_ thought Naruto, then he noticed the woman looking at him quite intensely. _"Why is she looking at me like that?"_

" **Maybe because you just showed right after her brother, so she might be suspicious of us,"**

Chifuyu walked up to him with eyes locked on him and everyone were watching on silently "Animals aren't allowed here, Uzumaki-san,"

Naruto frowned a little before replying "Sorry but Kurami-chan has been with me since the day I was born, and she doesn't like to be separated from me,"

"Even so, I will not let your pet disrupt my class," said Chifuyu with a glare, she was to see Naruto frown right back at her.

"Kurami-chan is not a pet, she's my friend and a very smart fox! Why don't you ask her yourself?" said Naruto, at this Kurami jumped off his shoulders and onto the table before looking straight at her.

"Do you expect me to believe that the fox can understand what I'm saying?"

"Why don't you give it a try then?"

Chifuyu turned to the red fox who was still staring at her "Can you understand me?" she along with everyone else was shocked when the fox nodded to the question with Naruto smirking "Do you wish to remain with Uzumaki-san?" then she got a nod "Will you avoid doing anything that will disrupt the class," and a shake of the head. Chifuyu stood there for a minute and then let out a sigh before turning back to Naruto.

"Very well then, she can stay. But if she disturbs the class, then she leaves," said Chifuyu.

Kurami let out a happy yip and wagged her tail before jumping back onto Naruto's shoulders and nuzzled his cheek. The girls were squealing "Kawai!' at the sight while Chifuyu returned to her table while deep in thought.

" _There's something strange about that boy, for him to appear right after Ichika's enrollment is very suspicious. I better keep an eye on him,"_

After receiving an orientation before taking on the first theory class, it was now time for recess. But Ichika didn't or rather couldn't go anywhere due to the fact that the middle corridor are full of girls from other classes who are peeking through the glass after hearing rumors of there being two male IS users, and let's not forget that Ichika is the younger brother of their idol Chifuyu Orimura.

"Yo,"

Ichika turned to see Naruto by him with a foxy grin and waving at him.

"Oh Naruto-san-" Ichika began but Naruto cut him off.

"Please call me Naruto, being called with such honorifics makes me feel distant. After all, we're going to be friends while here in the academy right?" said Naruto while rubbing behind Kurami's ears which made her purr in pleasure.

"Yeah, you're right," said Ichika with a smile "So how did you discover that you were able to use an IS?"

"Well the thing is that I learnt how to use an IS long before you,"

Ichika was shocked to hear that "What?! But then why didn't you enroll earlier?"

"That's because I needed to train under my clans' techniques so I kept it a secret, plus I didn't want to leave my new family in Italy yet,"

"I see,"

"So when I heard about you, I decided to enroll and join you cause it might feel awkward being the only guy in a school full of girls,"

"Yeah you have no idea how relieved I am to have another guy with me here," Ichika looked at Naruto with gratefulness.

"No problem buddy, just know that I've always got your back," said Naruto as he raised a fist, Ichika looked confused at first until he got the meaning before using his own fist to bump Naruto's with a smile.

At that moment, the girl whom Ichika was familiar with walked up to them

"Excuse me but I would to speak with him for a moment?"

"Houki?" said Ichika in surprise.

"Oh okay, I'll catch you later Ichika," said Naruto.

"Sure Naruto, see you around," Ichika got up from his and left with the girl.

" _Seems like he knows her from somewhere,"_ thought Naruto.

" **They must be childhood friends,"** said Kurami **"And it looks like she has a crush on him too,"**

"Hello!"

Naruto and Kurami turned to the voice that called out to them, she is a girl with pink hair at shoulder length with two small pigtails on either side tied by yellow fox themed hair ties. Naruto noticed that she wears her uniform differently from the others as her sleeves are extended to obscure her hands.

"My name is Nohotoke Honne, but my friends call me Nohohon. It's nice to meet you!" said the girl cheerfully.

Naruto was a bit surprised by her enthusiasm but smiled back as she kind of reminds her of him in a way "It's nice to meet you too Nohohon-chan, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well my friends and I have been wondering…if those are real?" Nohotoke pointed at the whisker marks on his cheeks.

"Oh these, they're actually birthmarks,"

"Really?! Wow, they make you look like a fox!" she said gleefully.

"You must really like foxes huh?"

"Yes cause they're so cute!"

Naruto would have bet that if she had a tail right now, it would be wagging. He noticed that she was stealing glances at Kurami and knew what she wanted to do.

"If you want to hold Kurami-chan, I'm sure she wouldn't mind as long as you're gentle with her. Right Kurami-chan?"

" **Of course,"** Kurami jumped off his shoulders and into Nohotoke's arms as she nuzzled her.

"Waaaii! She's so fluffy, I can cuddle her all day!"

" **I wouldn't mind if she does, she knows where to touch the right spots,"** said Kurami blissfully.

" _Sure but try not to get spoiled too much,"_ thought Naruto, he could hear the girls whispering among themselves.

"So those whisker marks _are_ real,"

"How unfair of her, I wanted to cuddle the cute fox too,"

"His hair is almost like the sun,"

"Do you think he'll purr if we rub those whiskers of his?"

Naruto got nervous at hearing the last statement as he _does_ purr much to his embarrassment, Kurami said that he must have gotten that from her. Sonia was the one to find and ever since then wouldn't let him have the time of the day.

Later on after the break, they were having another theory class although Ichika could barely understand any of it which led to Chifuyu bashing his head in with the record book due he didn't read the book that was sent to him and compulsory to read before entering the academy. Naruto offered him his notes that was modified by Fabio which was much easier for him to understand much to Ichika's relief ( **Naruto was also taught the basics during his training** )

During another recess, Naruto and Ichika were hanging out in class and Kurami had gone to play with Nohotoke along with her friends. The duo suddenly heard someone call out to them.

"Excuse me, may I have a moment with the both of you?"

She is a girl with log blonde hair and wears a blue headband. Her uniform is slightly modified with a long skirt with black frills at the ends of the skirt and sleeves. Judging by the sound of her voice, she must be British.

"Yes?" said Ichika.

"Oh what a response! Don't you know how honored you should feel for just talking to someone like me? You need to have a better attitude," said the girl snobbishly.

"Well the problem would be that we don't know who you are," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

The girl looked shocked at what her fellow blonde said "You mean that you don't know me? Cecilia Alcott? The valedictorian of the entrance exam and the representative contender student for England?"

"May I ask a question please?" said Ichika.

"Oh go ahead, after all it's the job of nobles to answer the request made by the people of the lower class," said Cecilia with a wave of her hair.

" **This girl is quite full of herself,"** said Kurami through the mind link while relaxing on Nohotoke's lap with one eye open.

"What's a representative contender student?" asked Ichika, this led to those listening to fall comically while Cecilia was stunned and Naruto was trying to contain his laughter.

"I can't believe this! Is every man in Japan so lacking in knowledge? It's common sense!" said Cecilia.

"You can fault Ichika for this as he was just introduced to the world of IS," said Naruto.

"Hmph, well in that case I'll explain. The representative contender students are the elites chosen as candidates to represent their countries as their IS pilots, surely you can imagine the meaning of what I'm talking about?"

"I guess so," said Ichika.

"That's right! And I am an elite, so you should feel elated that you're in a class with someone like me," said Cecilia with a dramatic flair.

"Wow, just…wow," thought Naruto.

"Well since you have insufficient knowledge, I could probably teach you even you come crying and begging to me. After all I am the elites among elites who defeated an instructor during the entrance exams," said Cecilia.

"Oh I also defeated an instructor,"

Cecilia turned with her eyes wide in surprise "Huh?"

Naruto raised his hand "So did I,"

"Huh?! But how?!"

"Although I said that, the instructor suddenly came charging towards me, so I evaded her while she crashed into the wall and was out of commission," said Ichika.

"For me, when the instructor lashed at me with her blade. I deflected it and before knocking her off her feet before holding her at sword point," said Naruto.

"But I heard I was the only one…" said Cecilia with her shoulders shaking.

"Won't that carry the clause 'among women'?" said Ichika.

 _"Uh oh, looks like she going to burst out,"_ thought Naruto, recognizing it from how Sakura, Ino and Tsunade would react, and he was spot on.

"So you both defeated an instructor too?!" said Cecilia angrily.

"Please calm down Cecilia-san," said Naruto in a placating manner but it wasn't working at all.

"How can I calm down after hearing this?!" at that moment, the school bell rang to signal the end of recess "We'll continue this conversation later, all right?" then she strutted off.

" **How arrogant can she be just because she wasn't the only one to defeat an instructor?"** said Kurami as she walked over to Naruto and jumped to his shoulder.

" _Maybe but that remains to be seen,"_ thought Naruto.

Soon class was over and everyone were walking along the paths towards the dormitories. Naruto and Ichika had arrived and were looking for the rooms assigned to them with the slips of papers in their hands. They stopped before a door which had the number plate '1025' on it.

"I guess this my room," said Ichika looking at the slip of paper to double check.

"Okay, my room must be further so I'll see you tomorrow," said Naruto before walking off.

"Okay goodnight Naruto, Kurami," said Ichika as he opened the door before walking inside.

Naruto continued down the corridor in search of his room until he finally found it with the number plate '1035', he found it a bit ironic that the number plate relates to Kurami when you sum up the numbers. He walked inside and was impressive by what he saw.

Inside the room are two beds beside each other, a bathroom, two computers, a small kitchen and he could even see a balcony through the glass doors.

"Whoa this place is almost like a luxury hotel," said Naruto.

Kurami leapt off his shoulders and transformed into her human form, then she went lie on one of the beds **"Yeah, but there might be a chance that we would get a roommate later on,"**

"True but it might be a while, so until then we have this room all to ourselves," Naruto took a scroll out of his pocket and started to unseal his belongings and arranged them to get a homely feeling of the room. He took a bath and came out of the bathroom and put on his sleep clothes which was a black t-shirt and shorts. He was about to lie on the bed when he heard chattering outside the door "I wonder what's going on?" Naruto went to open the door and look outside only to quickly shut it and walk back to the bed, Kurami noticed that he was blushing.

" **What happened Naruto-kun, and why is your face red?"** asked Kurami curiously.

"I just saw something that Ero-sennin would call a goldmine, so I quickly came back so that I won't be called a pervert," said Naruto as he laid down to sleep but not before sending a message to Sonia and his foster parents.

" **He's so cute when he reacts like that,"** Kurami giggled before going to sleep as well.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto had woken up and got himself ready for class then he left the dormitory with Kurami once again in her fox form and riding on his shoulders. They went into the cafeteria where he had a bowl of miso pork ramen and plate of steak for Kurami which he sliced into smaller pieces for her then he saw Ichika sitting next to Houki although he noticed that she looked angry but decided not to ask about it and walked over to them.

"Yo mind if I sit here?" asked Naruto.

"Oh hey Naruto, you can sit here," said Ichika with a nod of his head.

Naruto set his tray on the counter and proceeded to eat his ramen while Kurami was eating her steak when they heard a familiar voice.

"Hi Naruto-kun and Kurami-chan!"

They turned to see Nohotoke who was wearing a pajama which looks like a yellow fox along with two others who seem to be her friends and they're all carrying trays of food.

"Hey Nohohon-chan, what's up?" said Naruto with a smile.

"Can my friends and I sit next to you?" asked Nohotoke.

"Sure, the more the merrier," said Naruto with a foxy grin, though he could hear some of the girls whining about not asking him or Ichika first.

"Wow, you and Ichika sure eat a lot," said one of the girls.

"I don't know about Ichika but I have a strong metabolism so I tend to burn energy rather quickly which results in me eating a lot," said Naruto.

"And I'm the type who eats little at night, so I have to eat a lot in the morning otherwise I won't make it. On the other hand, are you girls eating too little?" said Ichika.

Like he said, the food on their trays are quite small in amount and the girls were looking at each other nervously.

"Well that's because we eat a lot of snacks!" said Nohotoke cheerfully.

Then Houki stood up from here seat "I'm going now," she picked up her tray and walked off, leaving the others behind while Naruto watched her leave with a small frown on his face, something which Ichika caught.

"Naruto, what's the matter?" asked Ichika.

"It's just that she reminds me of someone I know, he always prefer to be left alone and would never seek company no matter how much I try to befriend him," said Naruto with a sad smile, Kurami had a good idea of who he was talking about.

"Well Houki and I are childhood friends, when we were in first grade we started going to the same kendo dojo. And then we were together again in fourth grade, though I don't remember much of the past anymore," said Ichika with a faraway look.

Suddenly they heard clapping from behind and turned around to see Chifuyu in a white tracksuit.

"How long are you going to eat?! You've got to be fast when eating, be efficient! If you're late, then you'll be running ten laps around the field,"

Then the girls started eating as fast as they could, Naruto leaned over and whispered into Ichika's ears.

"Dude, your sister's strict,"

Ichika nodded in affirmation "I know that all too well Naruto,"

After breakfast Naruto and Ichika went to their class to start their lesson and were being taught the basic knowledge about the IS among other things and soon they were into third period. Chifuyu stepped forward and spoke up.

"Now we'll decide on who will be the class representative who will be competing in the inter-class tournament. Not only that but they will also attend student council meetings as well as committee meetings sort of like a class leader. Self-nominations or nominating of others, either of them is fine so are there any candidates?"

One of the girls raised her hand and spoke up "Sensei, I recommend Orimura-kun,"

"I choose Uzumaki-kun to be the class leader," said another.

Soon more joined in with Naruto getting more of the votes than Ichika much to his relief since he didn't want to be in the spotlight.

"From the looks of things, Naruto Uzumaki will be chosen to be the class representative. Are there any opinions?" said Chifuyu.

"I object to this!" everyone turned to see that it was Cecilia who made that outburst "Do you expect me, Cecilia Alcott to bear the shame of having a man as our class representative for a whole year? I will not accept this!"

" _What is this girl's problem?!"_ thought Naruto with a frown.

"It's already bad enough that I'm living in a country of underdeveloped culture like this one, it's such an unbearable pain!"

By this point, Naruto finally had enough as he stood up from his seat and was glaring at her.

"I would stop talking about Japan like that if I were you, don't act as if Britain is a piece of heaven. Last I checked, Britain had awards for the worst cuisines ever unlike japan and Italy for their best delicacies," said Naruto with Kurami yipping in agreement.

Cecilia looked flabbergasted before glaring back angrily "How dare you?! We have many delicious dishes, are you insulting my country?!"

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing when you spoke of how Japan's culture was so underdeveloped?" said Naruto.

"To insult me like this…I challenge you to a duel!"

"I accept it, time to show you that the world doesn't revolve around you,"

"You better fight with all you have, because if you lose to me on purpose, I'll make you my servant…worst yet my slave! Or are you going to run away like a coward?" Cecilia said smugly.

" **Uh oh, she's gone and done it now,"** thought Kurami.

Naruto's eyes widened as those words made him remember something back in his old world, the time he started to walk his own path. He reached into his pocket and took out his headband only that he replaced the blue cloth with a long black one.

Everyone looked at what Naruto was holding with curiosity while Chifuyu was watching with a look of interest.

"I'm not gonna run away and I never go back on my word, that is my nindo! My ninja way!" Naruto said this as he put on his headband and looked at Cecilia with eyes showing great resolve, something that surprised Chifuyu.

" _I never thought that would see eyes like that in any man, what could have happened for him to have eyes like that?"_ she thought.

"What do you mean by that nindo nonsense and what are you wearing that headband for?" Cecilia was taken aback upon seeing such strength behind his eyes.

"My nindo is the personal rule which I live by and follow without any regrets, and this headband signifies the pride that I possess as a Shinobi. For this will not be a battle between a man and a woman, but a battle between two IS pilots!"

Everyone sat there silently in surprise upon what he said, this boy doesn't care about the male and female strength ratio but is truly taking this battle very seriously.

" _Naruto, for you to talk like that. What have you gone through?"_ thought Ichika.

" _This boy called himself a ninja? I'll have to pay more attention on him from here on,"_ thought Chifuyu before speaking up "Now that it's settled, the battle will be held next Monday at the third arena. Uzumaki and Alcott, make sure you guys prepare well,"

Both blondes stared at each other with one thought in mind.

"I'm will win this battle!"

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, looks like Naruto has finally arrived at the IS academy and made some friends and now he's about to engage an elite in an IS battle. Who will come out on top? The elite of the elites or the unpredictable ninja? Stay tuned to find out. I'd like to take my time and thank all those who took their time to read this fiction, and for all those who read my other fictions, don't worry as I'll soon update them.**

 **What do you all think of a Naruto/Voltron force crossover fiction? A friend of mine is suggesting for me to make one. I've also been getting a few messages that Ling should be added to Naruto's harem while Ichika and Houki are a single pairing, review or PM me if you agree with this.**


	4. Prepare for Takeoff

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 3: Prepare for Takeoff**

Later in class, Chifuyu stood in front of the class to make another announcement for the day.

"Uzumaki, I've received word from the Stellare Enterprise that your personal IS is being sent over as we speak,"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at hearing that _"I wonder which one they're sending? Which would you think Kurami-chan?"_

" **It's probably the one with Kushina-chan's core since Fabio-san and his team might still be working on that special armament on the one with Minato's core,"** said Kurami through their mind link.

"Uzumaki-kun already has his personal IS?" said one of the girls from the back.

"Wow, I kinda wish for my own," said another.

Many girls were whispering about how rare it is for one to have their own personal IS, but Ichika seemed to be confused about it though.

"Is it that amazing to have a personal IS?" he wondered out loud, then Cecilia Alcott appeared before him and spoke rather snobbishly.

"Of course it is! You better pay close attention to the match as you'll soon learn that a training-use IS is incapable of standing up to a personal IS,"

"So I guess you own one?"

"Unlike your disrespectful fellow male next to you," Naruto growled at hearing that "I'm kind enough to tell you, in this world there are 467 IS machines. And among six million people in the world, those who own a personal IS are among the elite of the elites!"

"But then why are there only that much? I was thinking that the IS machines will be in the thousands from what I hear about them,"

Then one of Nohotoke's friends spoke up "The technology to create the core which is the main part of the IS machine has not been released. Which is why there are only 467 IS machines as Dr. Tabane Shinonono created them and no one else can. The countries, corporations, and organizations experiment with their given cores for the purpose of development and training,"

" _Shinonono? But isn't that Houki's sister?"_ thought Ichika while glancing at Houki who was staring out the window as if ignoring the entire conversation.

"Essentially, only the extremely nationalistic or rich aristocrats are given the personal IS. However Orimura is a special case as he will be receiving a personal IS from the government for data collection purposes," said Chifuyu.

Naruto raised his hand to catch their attention which it did "If I may say something, first of all respect is earned not given. Second of all, there 46 _8_ IS machines in the world,"

Hearing this made everyone including Houki to look at Naruto in surprise while Chifuyu narrowed her eyes at him.

 _"What does he mean by that? Could Tabane have made another IS and sent it to this boy?_ " thought Chifuyu.

"How could you know about something like this when we don't?!" said Cecilia indignantly.

Naruto simply smirked at "You beat me in the oncoming match, then I'll tell you,"

Cecilia glared at him before turning away with a huff.

Soon it was recess and Naruto was working on something with his S-Touch "LUNA (Logic Utility Navigation Assistor), please download the data of my IS from the Stellare databank to a folder so that I can check for the latest updates on it,"

[Yes sir, please be patient as the download will take a little of your time before completion,] said the AI now known as LUNA.

"Okay," said Naruto as he saw a loading bar on the screen to indicate the start of the process, then he heard Ichika call out to him.

"Hey Naruto, I'm inviting Houki and the others over to lunch at the cafeteria. Wanna come along?"

"Sure thing Ichika, I could go for a bowl of ramen right about now," said Naruto with a smile as he closed his S-Touch and walked up to them.

You see? Even Naruto wants to come along with us," said Ichika to Houki who simply turned away from him.

"I'm fine as it is," said Houki.

"Come on, don't say that. Let's go!" Ichika grabbed her hand and got her to stand up much to Houki's annoyance.

"Hey, I said I'm not going!"

"What, you don't want to walk? Want me to carry you?" he said teasingly.

However this led to Houki being embarrassed as she tried to escape by twisting her arm before slamming her shoulder into Ichika which sent him falling to the floor much to everyone's shock even Houki herself.

Naruto immediately rushed to Ichika's side "Oi Ichika, are you okay?"

Ichika groaned a bit before getting back to his feet and shaking the dust off his uniform "Yeah I'm okay, though I gotta say that you got stronger Houki,"

Houki turned away with a huff "Or maybe you got weaker, that was something I learned from kendo,"

"Erm maybe we'll pass on the lunch invite," said Nohotoke with her friends nodding in agreement.

"Now I get want Ichika was aiming for when he invited me and the others," thought Naruto, then he spoke up "It's alright, how about you watch Kurami-chan for me?"

At the girls' excited nod, Kurami leapt off his shoulders and went along with them as he turned back to Ichika and Houki.

"It's not my fault," said Houki.

"Even so, I was trying to get you to eat with us. You didn't have to be so adamant about not going," said Ichika.

"I just want to be alone, I don't need any company,"

"You don't really mean that Houki-san, I can tell that you want friends but just don't how to go about it," said Naruto.

"I'm sure you would know since you're already friends with them. No doubt you had a lot of them back when you were younger so you wouldn't have felt lonely at all," said Houki with a twinge of annoyance.

Instead of a response, Ichika and Houki were surprised to see that Naruto was silent and looking at ground with his hair shadowing his eyes. It was almost a minute before the blond finally spoke.

"Ichika, I don't feel hungry anymore. I'll be going out for a walk, so I'll see you later," Naruto turned and quietly left the classroom.

Then Ichika turned to stare intensely at Houki who looked a bit unnerved "I don't think you should have said that Houki,"

"What do you mean?" asked Houki as she was a bit confused by the blonde's reaction.

"Judging by his name, Naruto must have been an orphan before being adopted. Which means that he had been alone for a long time, something that you must have reminded him of,"

"But I…I didn't know…he always looked so happy,"

"I'm sure he knows that too, so he'll understand," said Ichika in assuring manner which seemed to have worked since Houki looked a bit better _"But what could have happened to his parents for him to have ended up as an orphan?"_

Meanwhile Naruto was at the school roof sitting on the railings and looking at the scenery, he was thinking about his early childhood and how he was ostracized by the villagers and that in turn their children following their parents. He tries to push those feeling of loneliness away by acting happy all the time, but those feelings return with full force when he sees the children being happy with their parents or when he returns to his apartment where nobody waits behind the door to say 'Welcome home' to him.

" _Come on Naruto, those days are gone and you have family of own so you shouldn't be feeling like this,"_ he thought as he took out the locket that Sonia gave to him and opened it to see the family with a warm smile.

"Uzumaki-kun?"

Naruto turned to the voice which called out to him from behind and was surprised to see that it was Maya who had a look of concern on her face.

"Maya-sensei? What are you doing here?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"I was on my way to class when I saw you passing by with a sad look on your face, so I followed you here to find out why you looked so sad and was hoping to cheer you up," said Maya.

"Oh no, everything's fine. It's nothing for you to be concerned about," said Naruto, hoping that she would leave but he was surprised when he saw her look at him sternly.

"No, something's clearly bothering you and I'm not leaving until you tell me,"

Naruto let out a sign when he saw that she wouldn't budge "Okay okay, I'll tell you. I'm sure you know that I'm adopted," he saw her nod in affirmation "Before then I was always alone with no one to keep me company to the point that I feel like a stranger in my own apartment,"

"But didn't anyone at least extend a hand of friendship to you?" Maya said softly.

"No, because on the night of my birth, something terrible happened in my village and since then they hated me because I reminded them of what happened back then,"

Maya let out a gasp "But you were only just a baby who did nothing wrong,"

"Sometimes grief can make you lose sight of the truth," said Naruto "Something which Jiji told me, since then I always had to do things on my own which was until I was adopted by the Salvatores,"

"I see…but I think you shouldn't be thinking too much about the past, because now you aren't alone anymore as you have a family, I can see that you're becoming friends with everybody in the class and soon the whole academy. So I know that you won't be feeling lonely anymore,"

As he took in her words, Naruto saw that she was right. True he was feeling lonely back then, but now he has his true parents, the Salvatores, Ichika and others in his life now. Then he turned to Maya and gave her one of his genuine smiles which only a few had the privilege of seeing, causing her to blush.

" _His smile makes him look so handsome, w-what am I thinking?!"_ she thought.

"You're right Maya-sensei…thank you. Could you do me a favor?" said Naruto.

"Yes? What is it Uzumaki-kun?" asked Maya curiously.

"Could you call me Naruto, not Uzumaki?"

"Eh? Why would you ask that?" asked Maya who was surprised.

"Like you said, we're friends and friends call each other by their first names. Okay Maya-sensei?" said Naruto with a smile.

"Y-you're right…so um Na-Na-Naruto-kun?" Maya while poking her index fingers together said shyly which reminded Naruto of a certain lavender-haired girl back at Konoha.

"That's right," said Naruto with a bright smile.

Later he went back to class after Maya walked off saying that she needs to deliver some data Chifuyu. He entered the class to see Ichika and Houki talking and walked towards them.

"Hey guys," said Naruto with a wave.

"Yo Naruto, where've you been?" asked Ichika.

"I was hanging out on the school roof,"

"Well Houki had something to say to you,"

Naruto turned to Houki who was looking apologetic "I wish to apologize for what I said before, I had no ill intentions,"

Naruto simply waved it off "It's okay, I know very well that you didn't know. So how about we put it behind us and start over?"

A small smile graced her lips as Houki earnestly nodded in agreement with Ichika smiling at the two of them.

"So what happened while I was gone?" asked Naruto.

"Well during lunch, one of our sempais offered to teach me about the IS basics. But Houki said that _she_ will be the one to teach me instead," said Ichika.

"Sounds interesting, mind if I came over and watched?" asked Naruto.

"Sure,"

After classes were over, Naruto along with Kurami followed Ichika and Houki to the Kendo club where he watched them spar each other in the dojo where a large number of girls were spectating, however it was rather one sided as Ichika kept losing to Houki much to her annoyance.

" _His kendo skills have gotten rusty,"_ thought Naruto.

" **Well, he hasn't been practicing since he was about to graduate before he ended up being enrolled here Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami.

Then they saw Ichika down on one knee and panting in exhaustion while Houki looked angry upon taking of her helmet.

"What's going on Ichika, why have you gotten so weak in all these years?! Now I have to get you back to your peak!" said Houki.

"Wait, but this doesn't have anything to do with the IS," said Ichika.

"Actually it does Ichika," they turned to see Naruto coming down to meet them "Not only do you need to know about IS machines, but you also need to train your body physically in order to bring out the potential of the IS during battle,"

"I think I get what you mean by that,"

"Speaking of which, how about a spar between you and me?" this drew looks of surprise from everyone except Kurami who looked rather interested.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Houki.

"Yeah, I want to gauge the current level of my sword style against other weapon users especially those with swords,"

Houki nodded in affirmation, then Naruto went to change into the hakama and protective armor before walking back to the area. They bowed to each other with Houki taking the basic kendo stance with her shinai pointing towards Naruto. Naruto took the stance of his mother's whirlpool sword style by standing sideways while holding his shinai up horizontally above his shoulder and pointing forwards.

Then Naruto dashed towards her with his upper body lowered towards the ground and the shinai held at the side, he performed an uppercut to which Houki quickly backpedaled to avoid before stepping in with a vertical swing of her shinai. Naruto jumped backwards with a one-handed horizontal slash which clashed with Houki's attack, successfully deflecting the attack before towards Houki to attack again as she stood ready to engage him.

Both sides exchanged slashes and feints but landed equal blows upon each other, then Houki deflected one of Naruto's attacks and went in for a thrust at his gut. The blond saw the incoming and knew that he won't be able to block in dodge in time, so he twirled his shinai till he held it in a reverse grip then he deflected the thrust and slashed across Houki's chest, causing her to grunt from the impact and back away to see Naruto taking a different stance while still holding the shinai in a reverse grip **(Think of Ventus from Kingdom Heart BBS)**

" _ **I was wondering when you would change to that stance Naruto-kun,"**_ thought Kurami as she watched Naruto dashed towards Houki.

" _He's faster than when he held the shinai in a forward grip, and his defense is stronger,"_ thought Houki as she attempted a vertical slash only for Naruto to block it before spinning with a backhand slash which she jumped back to escape its range _"But his range is reduced,"_

Naruto slashed once more for Houki to dodge, but then twirled the shinai like baton as he spun around before switching back into a forward grip as he brought it down on her shoulder which made contact before jumping back and was twirling it again.

"Wow, what kind of sword style is that?" said one of the girls who were watching the match.

"I've never seen anything like it before," said another.

"Could it be a new sword style?"

Ichika was watching the battle with rapt attention "That must be one of his clan's techniques, he switches between grips based on the situation. Forward grip for ranged and frontal attacks, and the reverse grip for speed and defense. And he twirls the shinai to confuse his opponents so they wouldn't be able to tell what he'll do next until he finally attacks. I wonder how it would be if we had sparred when we were younger,"

"Time to finish this!" Naruto switched to a forward grip and jumped back a bit before dashing forwards, then he performed a roll to which he somersaulted into the air at the end with a spinning slash much to the surprise of everyone at the sight of the move. Houki raised her shinai to block, but the momentum of the incoming attack too strong as it flew off her hands and clattered on the floor.

Naruto simply backed away from her and bowed, Houki snapped out of her shock and bowed back to signal the end of the match as everyone were clapping loudly before they started to leave after praising the two. Soon it was only Naruto, Kurami, Houki and Ichika left in the dojo.

"Thanks for the match Houki," said Naruto as he took off the helmet with a smile.

"I should also thank you as well, though I've never seen a sword style such as yours," said Houki.

"It's a sword style from my mother's clan, it's called the Whirlpool sword style. It enables me to switch from offense to defense depending on whom I'm battling, I'm sure you figured that from the way I fought, and this style can also use two blades which makes it even more deadly,"

"Yes, and you twirled your shinai as a way of preventing your opponents from preparing a defense for either stance you take," said Ichika to which Naruto nodded in affirmation.

"But what was that last move you used?" asked Houki.

"It's called the Whirling Strike, where one uses their momentum to empower a single blow. It's also perfect for counterattacking as well,"

"That's certainly a powerful technique, I wish to spar with you again later on," said Houki.

"Sure thing, I also to train more on it as my training isn't complete," said Naruto then he turned to Ichika "And I want to spar with you too,"

"That will have to wait as I'll need to retrain him back to his prime condition," Ichika chuckled nervously by Houki's statement while Kurami was smirking mischievously.

" **I bet she just wants to spend more time with him alone after school,"** thought the vixen while making sure that Naruto didn't hear her thoughts.

Later on, Naruto and Kurami were back their room at the dormitory. Naruto was in the kitchen cooking dinner and Kurami was in her human form lounging on one of the beds while waving her tails around. Then Naruto came out with a large tray of food and placed it on the table, Kurami go off the bed to join him at the table as they proceeded to eat. Then the S-Touch beeped out loud before LUNA's voice was heard.

[Sir, I wish to tell you that the download of data on the IS from the Stellare databank is finally complete]

"Thanks for telling me LUNA," said Naruto.

[It was my utmost pleasure to help you sir] said LUNA.

Naruto picked up the S-Touch and walked over to one of the computers, then he reached for the side and pulled out a USB cable which he plugged into the system. He entered his ID and password for access, then a window opened up and streams of information scrolled into view. Kurami had gone to put the dishes before coming over to look as well.

"It seems like they added some new additions to the IS," said Kurami.

"Yeah and they managed to complete the request I made just in time too, it will definitely help me out in future battles," said Naruto, then he started to read through the data more thoroughly for a while before going to bed for the next day.

A week has gone by and it was finally Monday, the day of the match between Naruto and Cecilia for the position of class representative. Naruto, Ichika and Houki were standing at the maintenance area which is where IS users suit up and there's also a launch pad to send them into the arena. Kurami had gone with Nohotoke and the rest of the class to the stone benches meant for spectators as they waited in anticipation for the incoming match.

"So that's her personal IS…" said Naruto as he looked at the holographic screen which was showing Cecilia who was already in the arena and in her IS which was blue in color, holding a sniper rifle.

"Your personal IS hasn't arrived yet?" asked Houki.

"Not yet, but I know that it will be arriving soon," Naruto replied.

"Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun!" they turned to the voice that was calling out the blonde's name through the loudspeaker and realized that it was Maya who was currently at the observation room along with Chifuyu.

"Yes Maya-sensei, what's the matter?" asked Naruto.

"Your personal IS has just arrived!"

"Uzumaki, prepare yourself right away. Keep in mind that you have a limited amount of time in the arena," said Chifuyu.

"Got it," Naruto headed to the changing room and came back dressed in a tank top and burmudas while wearing his headband.

Then a large metal door slowly opened up whit a heavy sound, behind it laid an open armor as if it had been waiting for Naruto this whole time. Upon seeing the color on the armor, Naruto smiled warmly as he approached it.

"So they sent you first huh?" said Naruto.

Then he flipped into the air and landed inside the armor. The armor started to shift and move while making clacking sounds as pieces of the armor fitted themselves into place. Before long the armor had completely fitted itself to his body and Naruto could feel that he had become one with it. He currently has the appearance of a roman soldier with a color scheme of royal blue-purple color including a helmet resembling that of a gladiators and is also equipped with wings and other related flight gear. Unlike the other IS machines, Naruto's covers his entire body **(For those who know how Odin looks I'm sure you get the idea)**

[System Start]

Inside the armor, the HUD came online as Naruto saw many readings among other things like his shield energy, armor structure, weapon arsenal etc. Not only that, Naruto heard a voice in his mind which made him smile happily even though the others couldn't see it.

[Sochi-kun!] it was his mother Kushina who resides in the core of the IS.

" _Hi Kaa-san, did you miss me?"_ thought Naruto with a smile.

[Of course I did, those guys couldn't see me over to you any faster. So did you meet any nice girl or girls yet? You know that they need to get my approval before they can go out with you] said Kushina.

" _Kaa-san can we talk about this later? Right now we have a match which is about to go on,"_ thought Naruto with a blush.

[Really? Now that you mention it, I detect an IS nearby]

Naruto heard Chifuyu call out to him "Everything is functioning properly with your IS, I believe it's called Odin. Am I right?"

"Yeah this is my partner," said Naruto.

"So this is your personal IS Naruto? Looks pretty powerful," said Ichika.

[How nice of him to compliment me] said Kushina looking proud.

"Prepare for takeoff Naruto-kun," said Maya, Chifuyu was looking at her with a quirked eyebrow.

" _Since when does Maya call Uzumaki by his first, she tends to be awkward around men most at times. I'll need to ask her about this later,"_ thought Chifuyu.

Naruto stepped on the Launchpad and stood at the ready, Ichika and Houki walked up to him.

"Good luck Naruto," said Houki.

"Same here," said Ichika.

"Thanks," Naruto turned to the entrance of the arena "Let's fly!" the pad shot forward until it reached the end of the ramp where it launched him into the air as the flight system activated and he was hovering in midair. Naruto looked to see Cecilia floating before him with a haughty look on her. Then a display appeared before him.

[Her IS's name is Blue Tears, it appears to be a long ranged IS with a unique armor. Be careful when you try to approach her Sochi-kun]

" _Thanks for the info Kaa-san,"_ thought Naruto.

"So you didn't run away," said Cecilia.

The helmet unfolded itself to reveal Naruto's face as he frowned at her "Of course not, like I said before I will never run away,"

"Oh really? I was intending to give you a chance,"

"What you mean by that?"

"It's quite obvious that I'll be the victor of this match, so if you apologize now then I'll forgive you for the insult,"

[I don't know what happened between the two of you Sochi but show her what happens when you underestimate my son!] said Kushina with a glare.

Naruto nodded in affirmation before facing Cecilia "There's no way that's gonna happen!"

 **Music Start: F-Zero GX/AX OST; Infinite Blue (Big Blue)**

"Is that so? Then it's farewell with this shot!" Cecilia aimed her sniper rifle and shot a laser blaster which struck Naruto's shoulder much to his surprise and sent him towards the ground.

Naruto quickly recovered and landed on his feet, he kicked off the ground to avoid another shot as his helmet closed back on his face to see that his shield energy had reduced a bit.

[Sochi are you okay?] asked Kushina worriedly.

"I'm fine, but now it's time to fight back! Equip Retaliator and Beam Guarder!"

At Naruto's command, a twin-bladed beam lance appeared on his right hand while a shield made of energy appeared on his left. Naruto held the shield before him as he tried to get in close for an attack, but the impact from the rifle was no joke.

"Using a melee weapon against a long range IS? I would have considered it a joke if you weren't using a shield!" said Cecilia as she continued to shoot at the blond.

Naruto kept evading left and right whilst blocking a few of the shots until he got close enough to make his next move "Take this! **Attack Function: Phalanx**!" Odin's thrusters activated as he quickly charged forward and got close to Cecilia before she could react and pierced through her shield, turned around and charged again before the third strike sent her flying.

"What kind of attack is that?!" said Cecilia as she looked at her shield energy which had been reduced quite a bit.

"That's the feature of my IS called Attack Function which allows me to perform powerful techniques with whatever weapon I wield," said Naruto, he looked at his shield energy to see a bit of it gone.

[Be careful Sochi, using Attack Function can reduce your shield energy depending on which move you use] said Kushina.

"If that's the case, then I'll get serious!" then four pieces of the wings on Cecilia's IS detached themselves and flew towards Naruto before they started to shoot lasers at him much to his surprise.

"Those are like drones!" he raised his shield to block the shots but some of the drones maneuvered around his shield and shot him in the back which knocked him away.

"This doesn't look good, Naruto can't possibly block all of those shots with those drones moving around in different directions," said Ichika as he and Houki watches from the screen.

"I hope he comes through this," said Houki.

Naruto barrel rolled to the right to avoid and blocked a shot from above before flying away from the pursuing drones. With them around he can't seem to get any closer to Cecilia, so he needs a different approach on this.

"Let's switch things up! Substitute Dual Semi-Automatics!" the Retaliator and Beam Guarder disappeared from his hands in a flash of light, and in their place were a pair of handguns **(Diamondback DB-15 pistols)** he took aim at the incoming drones and shot at them before strafing to the left to evade the shot and fired back with some landing on the drones but not enough to take them out.

"Don't that you could defeat me now, just because you're using guns!" said Cecilia before shooting at Naruto who performed a somersault to evade the shot and returned fire being able to land a hit on her shield.

"Time for a little crowd control," Naruto took a sharp ascent to the air above the arena until he was over Cecilia and the drone before he directed his body towards the ground with his guns before " **Attack Function: Rain Bullet**!" he started spinning while rapidly firing bullets from the handguns making it look like a shower of bullets.

Cecilia and her drones got pelted by the bullet, reducing her shield energy and damaging respectively so she called them back tried to avoid the descending barrage which soon ended as Naruto's guns had ran out of bullets.

[Sochi-kun you're out of ammo! Quickly switch your weapons before she retaliates!] said Kushina.

"Got it, plus I planned for this! Substitute Dual Katanas!" again the handguns disappeared and were replaced with a pair of katanas **(Dragon's Claw and Tiger's Fang from Ninja Gaiden 2)**

Then he made a dive towards Cecilia who looked very irritated as she deployed the drones to attack him once again. He dashed towards one of the drones which opened fire but he held out one of the katanas and twirled it like a propeller to deflect the shot as he got close before using the other katana to slice through it, destroying the drone much to the female blonde's shock.

"What?! But how?" said Cecilia.

"I noticed that when you attack me with you rifle, your drones don't provide cover fire and vice versa. Which means that you can only use one at a time instead of both at once, also the previous attack was damage the drones enough to cripple their mobility," said Naruto.

In the observation room, Maya and Chifuyu were quite surprised by his strategy.

"I never would have thought of it like that if I was under such pressure. Naruto-kun is amazing," said Maya.

"I must agree with you, however Uzumaki shouldn't let his guard down or it would lead to his loss," said Chifuyu _"His reaction to attacks is very sharp and I heard how he defeated Houki in a spar. What kind of training do he undergo to get this strong?"_

"Naruto is turning the match around, he's going to win this!" said Ichika happily with Houki nodding in agreement.

" **Keep it going just like that Naruto-kun,"** thought Kurami.

[That's two down and two more to go Sochi-kun!] said Kushina as Naruto destroyed another drone.

Cecilia positioned her remaining drones in a pincer formation and commanded them to attack him at the same time. Naruto's HUD picked it up as he performed a spinning somersault before heading straight towards one of the drones and destroyed it with a cross slash, then he turned around and threw one of his katana like a kunai which pierced through the last drone, destroying it as well.

Naruto made a beeline towards Cecilia with his remaining katana drawn out "And now for you!" however he noticed that she was smirking which made his ninja instincts scream for him to pull back immediately.

"You fell for my trap, those drones aren't the _only_ ones I have!" two pods opened up from both sides of her skirt-like armor and aimed at Naruto before firing two missiles.

Naruto quickly turned around and flew off while making serpentine movements to evade the pursuing missiles, however his two explosive chasers remained on his tail and slowly getting closer to him.

[They're homing missiles! They'll keep chasing you until they hit!] said Kushina.

" _What do I do? My handguns are out of ammo and the others won't be much help here!"_ thought Naruto as he took a dive towards with the missiles still on him, everyone is watching with bated breath to see what will happen next.

[Then we'll just have to outpace them. Activating Jet Mode!]

Parts of Odin's armor detached themselves before reattaching in other areas, Naruto felt his legs come together and arms spread out. The armor completed its transformation into a form which made everyone stare in surprise, even Chifuyu was shocked.

"The Italians were able to come up with something like this?" she muttered.

"Naruto's IS has changed form!" said one of the girls.

"Yeah, it now looks like a…," said another.

Cecilia just can't stop getting surprised by her 'unworthy opponent' "You actually changed into a jet?!"

Like she said, Naruto's IS Odin has transformed into jet.

"Alright, let's _really_ fly!" Naruto activated the afterburners before zooming off with the missiles close behind, he flew along the edge of the arena while slowly putting some distance between himself and the missiles, suddenly he performed a somersault and appeared right behind them "Now I gotcha! **Attack Function: Jet Striker**!" he was covered in a blue aura before putting a huge burst of speed that he zipped past the missiles and created a sonic boom.

Then he made his way towards and was soon upon her before she could put up any sort of defense. As he got close, Naruto exited out of the jet mode with his helmet unfolded by chance and held out his left hand as a blue spinning orb appeared on it "It's over, Rasengan!" he rammed the sphere into the her and Cecilia could only watch in disbelief as she watched her shield energy rapidly drop down to zero.

 **Music End**

"Ending the match. Winner…Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze," said Chifuyu through the loudspeaker _"What was that attack, it wasn't powered by shield energy and yet it was grinding through the shield the same way like my Yukihira Nigata (Byakushiki's sword)"_

Outside the arena, everybody was cheering for Naruto's victory and he could even hear his mom screaming at the top of her voice about how his son is the best in the world much to his embarrassment.

" _I can't believe that I lost…"_ thought Cecilia as her head was down, she couldn't believe what had happened and yet it was clear as daylight…she lost and to a man no less "I bet he'll proclaim himself to be strong and that I'm weak,"

"Cecilia…" hearing her name, she looked up and was surprised to see Naruto smiling at her "Thanks for the battle, I've really learned a lot from you,"

"W-what do you mean by that?" asked Cecilia confusedly.

"That's because this is my first ever IS battle, going up against you has taught me how to actually battle. So as a fellow IS user, I thank you," Naruto held out his hand.

Cecilia was stunned by this "I was so rude to him and yet he acts this way towards him," then she smiled before taking his hand and shaking it "The pleasure's all mine…Naruto Uzumaki,"

[Awwww so she's a nice girl after all, Sochi I approve of her after all] said Kushina.

" _Mom don't say that, you forgot that she doesn't like me,"_ thought Naruto with a blush, however Cecilia saw him blush and giggled at how shy he was acting now.

Kurami's eyebrow twitched at the sight though _**"Why is she acting like that towards Naruto-kun…don't tell me that she's starting to like him?!"**_

Afterwards, everyone headed towards the dormitory. In the shower of a room, Cecilia was taking a bath but her mind was thinking back to the match she had with that boy with spiky hair which looks like the sun and whiskers like that of a playful fox.

"Naruto…Uzumaki," she muttered the name as she recalled those eyes of his, they bore such strong will and resolve, and yet kind and gentle at the same time which her heart beat loudly "What kind of person are you? I need to know…"

Meanwhile in another room, Naruto was sending a message to Sonia and the family, telling them about today's match when he suddenly sneezed before rubbing his nose wondering where it came from.

" **Naruto-kun, what's the matter? Do you have a cold?"** asked Kurami in her human form.

"Nah, I don't think so. Maybe somebody's talking about me like that manga I read," said Naruto as he went to sleep.

" **I have an inkling of who it might be"** mumbled Kurami as she cuddled up to Naruto to sleep as well.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, looks like Naruto came out on top with this battle, and can he keep this momentum going any other battles in the future? We'll just have to wait and see in future chapters. I've come up the harem list and here they are:**

 **Kurami (Fem Kyuubi)**

 **Cecilia**

 **Charles (Charl)**

 **Laura**

 **Tatenashi Sarashiki**

 **Kanzashi Sarashiki**

 **Honne Nohotoke**

 **Chifuyu**

 **Maya**

 **Tabane**

 **Maybe Madoka (Depends on how the fic goes)**

 **Many readers want Ling to join the harem while others want her to be with Ichika and Houki, so I decided to set up a poll on my profile so you can go and vote. Read and review as always. A shoutout to ortizale317 for the naming of the AI**

 **This Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	5. The Daily Stuff

**Hey everyone, the polls have been closed and the result is that Ling joins in the harem while Ichika and Houki remain a single pairing. To all flamers keep in mind that this decision was made by the readers not me. Here's even the result:**

 **Ling joins the harem: 47 votes  
Ling pairs with Ichika and Houki: 31 votes**

 **As you can see, that it was a close vote. Now without further ado, let's move on to the next chapter of Sky Fox ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The Daily Stuff**

In the dark section of an unknown city, there is a supposedly rundown building but inside are rooms full of advanced equipment for weapons and surveillance. A dark room, a black silhouette which appears female as she played around with her long hair. Her eyes were focused on a large screen before her which was displaying a video, it was a recording of a match between two IS.

"Ufufufufu…who would have thought that there would be another male IS pilot, and that the Italians could create such a wonderful IS. However…," she then pressed a button on the keyboard which made the recording to freeze in place to show a frame of knight modeled IS with its helmet unfolded to reveal a male with spiky blond hair and whisker like marks on the cheeks as he held a blue spinning sphere made of unknown energy about to attack.

"This boy certainly interests me, I would like to meet him but he's still a little seedling who needs more time to grow into a fine specimen. Until then I'll be waiting," the unknown female chuckled darkly as she watched the screen with eyes full of excitement.

Meanwhile at the IS academy, it was early in the morning and it was the crack of dawn. Rapid footsteps could be heard through the paths of the parks from one place to another, we trace the sound to see that it was none other than Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze who was dressed in a short sleeved black hoodie jacket, track pants and training who is currently running down the path as fast as he can. He skidded to a stop upon approaching a tree, there he heard a click and looked up to see Kurami who was holding up a stopwatch with her tail.

" **That was three seconds faster than your last timing Naruto-kun, you've gotten a lot faster now,"** said Kurami after looking at the watch.

"That's good, I need to get stronger if I'm to go up against other IS pilots in the near future," said Naruto as he walked up to the tree and picked up a water bottle which he placed there earlier and took a drink to rehydrate his body "I'll also need to apply seals to the firearms too, the fact that I need to reload the guns in the middle of battle and risk getting attacked is not okay in with me,"

" **True, but you specialize more in close combat than long range so it might take a little getting used to,"**

Kurami was right with what she said, even back at the Elemental Nations Naruto would always engage his opponents in close range and rarely attacks from a distance. An example would be when he fought against Neji during the Chuunin exams despite the possibility of having his chakra sealed which indeed did happen but it didn't stop him nonetheless, which is why he took to learning how to incorporate firearms into his battle style.

[Sochi-kun!] Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and raised his left hand to look at a red bracelet with a blue gem which was blinking. It was the Closed Form of Odin, they discovered that Kushina could communicate with them mentally so as not to be heard by anyone.

"Yes Kaa-san?" asked Naruto.

[It's getting close to time for you to attend class, hurry back to your room and get ready! I don't want you to be tardy!] said Kushina.

"Okay,"

Naruto waited for Kurami to jump from the tree and onto his shoulders before he dashed for the dormitory with some last minute speedrun as he flipped and vaulted over benches and trees till the dormitory was within his sights. He put an extra burst of speed towards the automatic doors, when to his surprise the doors suddenly opened up earlier than he thought and he wound up crashing into someone as they both fell to the ground.

" _Oww, definitely not doing that again,"_ thought Naruto,

He started to get back to his feet when he felt his hand on something soft, curiously he squeezed it which elicited a moan which made his heart freeze, he looked down to see that it was Maya who was wearing a green sweatsuit and his hand is currently on her breast.

"Ummm, Naruto-kun?" asked Maya whose face was flushed red from how close Naruto is to her.

[NARUTO, GET OFF HER NOW!] yelled Kushina.

Naruto immediately jumped away from Maya and was on his knees all the while prostrating in apology.

"I'm so sorry, Maya-sensei! I didn't mean to do that to you honest! I swear on the food of the gods that it was unintentional!" said Naruto as he continued to bow. He recalled how the women would beat up Jiraiya whenever they caught him peeping in the baths which sent shivers down his spine.

"I-I-it's okay Naruto-kun, I know that you didn't mean it. It was just an accident," said Maya as she got up from the ground, then she walked over to Naruto and made him stand up.

But Naruto still looked apologetic "I'm really sorry about it,"

"I said it's okay, so stop apologizing. Though I'm curious as to ask what you were doing outside so early in the morning?"

"I was doing some physical training, it's what I do every morning. I was on my way to my room to take a bath and get ready for class when I…uh…bumped into you," said Naruto blushing a bit at the last sentence.

"Oh okay then I shouldn't delay you any longer, I'll see you in class Naruto-kun," said Maya then she walked out of the dormitory while trying to hide her blush with Naruto watching her leave before walking to his room.

" **Sooo…how did it feel?"** said Kurami with a mischievous grin.

" _C'mon Kurami-chan! I'm not a pervert like Ero-sennin!"_ thought Naruto who blushed from the memory.

" **Are you suuuuuuuuuure?"** the vixen drew out the last word on purpose.

"… _it was soft to the touch, there are you happy?"_

" **Very,"**

[Now Kurami-chan, stop teasing Sochi-kun] said Kushina, Naruto sighed in relief [After all, it was his first feel]

" _Kaa-san, not you too!"_ Naruto whined as he could hear his mother giggling in his mind.

He headed towards his room where he took his bath and put on his uniform, then he and Kurami made their way to the cafeteria where they had their breakfast along with Nohotoke and her friends before they went to class to start on their lessons. Later on the class had gathered at the training field for a practical in IS tutored by Chifuyu and Maya.

Chifuyu then stepped forward to address the class "Now then, let us begin practicing with the basic IS maneuvers. Orimura, Alcott and Uzumaki, try flying your IS,"

"Understood," Cecilia closed her eyes in concentration as her earrings glowed brightly before it faded away to reveal her in her IS Blue Tears.

"Okay," Ichika raised his right hand to reveal a white bulky bracelet which is the Closed Form of his new personal IS which he had received a few days after the IS match between Naruto and Cecilia. He tried to call on it but there was no response much to his confusion "Huh? Why isn't it working?"

"Come on Ichika, concentrate on calling upon your IS like this," Naruto raised his left hand to reveal the red bracelet "Let's Fly Odin!" it glowed brightly until it faded to reveal him in his IS Odin, the helmet unfolded itself to reveal his face "Like so, give it a shot,"

"Okay," Ichika placed a hand on his bracelet and closed his eyes "Concentrate…come Byakushiki!" the bracelet glowed brightly before fading away to reveal him in a white IS which is his new personal IS "I did it!"

"Okay, fly!" said Chifuyu.

"Yes," said Cecilia, then she immediately ascended to the air above them.

" _Let's go Kaa-san -ttebayo!"_ thought Naruto excitedly.

[Time to fly –ttebane!] said Kushina who was just as excited. The wings on Odin's back activated as he took to the air as well and was catching up with Cecilia in the sky.

"I wouldn't have gotten to experience this kind of feeling if I were still back at the Elemental Nations," thought Naruto.

[You're right about that Sochi, the only person I know that could fly around is Onoki the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure]

Then they heard Chifuyu's voice on the comm system "You're too slow Orimura, Byakushiki's power output is higher than Blue Tears and close to Odin when comparing specs,"

Naruto and Cecilia looked behind to see Ichika flying behind them but wasn't in a stable flight.

"But even if you say that…reading from a book and putting it into practical is difficult to understand," said Ichika as he slowly got used to the flight.

Naruto slowed down a bit till he was by Ichika "I hear you man, even I don't exactly get it myself. Heck even my old friends had to simplify already simple things for me to understand back then whenever we trained,"

"Ummm…Naruto-san," Naruto and Ichika turned to see Cecilia flying next to them "Maybe I could give you some pointers about the IS basics after class?

"Really? That's very nice of you," said Naruto with a smile (Helmet was still unfolded) which a pink tinge appear on her cheeks.

"Y-you're welcome, and during that time we'll be alo-,"

Then Chifuyu's voice spoke up again for them to hear "Uzumaki, Alcott and Orimura, try performing a sudden dive and coming to a complete halt,"

"R-roger, in that case I'll be going first," Cecilia then performed a nosedive as descended towards the ground before quickly pulling upwards and skillfully landed on her feet.

"Whoa, she's pretty good," said Ichika in wonder.

"I'll say, well it's my turn so see you at the bottom," said Naruto then he too performed a nosedive towards the ground just as quickly as Cecilia.

[Sochi-kun, pull up now!] said Kushina.

"Got it!" Naruto immediately pulled up and released an extra burst from his wings before landing on his feet. Naruto turned to look up to the sky and saw that Ichika was coming down as well, but his eyes widened upon noticing that something was wrong "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ichika slow down, you're coming in too fast!"

However his warning came in too late as Ichika crashed into the ground which resulted in a large crater. Naruto reverted Odin back to its closed form as he and everyone else gathered at the edge of the crater to see Ichika at the center with his head stuck in the ground as he tried to pull himself out.

"Never thought that I would see something like this in reality aside from Sonia-chan's favorite cartoon shows," Naruto muttered before he called out to him "Hey Ichika, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I thought I was going to die," said Ichika as he got from the crater.

"You idiot, what do you think you're doing opening a hole in the ground?" said Chifuyu sternly.

"Sorry," said Ichika.

"You really have to be more careful Ichika, have you forgotten what I taught you?" said Houki though one could sense a trace of worry in her voice.

"Well since you made that crater Orimura, you'll be the one to fill it up. Now get a move on before the next lesson," said Chifuyu.

Ichika looked flabbergasted while Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder with a look of sympathy. Afterwards everyone returned to the classroom to continue the remainder of the lessons until class was finally over, then the girls invited him over to the cafeteria for something special to which he complied although curious about it.

"Uzumaki-kun, congratulations on becoming the class representative," said one of the girls.

"Congratulations!" said the rest as some of them pulled strings of their party poppers to shoot thin colored paper streamers into the air.

Turns out the girls of his class had planned a congratulatory party for him for the being the class representative.

"Gee, thanks for this. I'll do everything I can to live up to your expectations," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head while looking sheepish.

"Well I'm sure you'll do so from what I saw in our battle Naruto-san," said Cecilia.

"You know, I've noticed that you've been rather nice to me unlike before when you would look down on me and Ichika,"

Kurami was looking at her with a certain look in her eye while sitting on Nohotoke's lap _**"I have a good idea why she's acting this way towards Naruto-kun,"**_

"After our battle, I took some time to think and realized that I had been behaving childishly towards you and Ichika-san. So I decided to be more civil towards you," said Cecilia.

"In that case, I hope that we can get along Cecilia-chan," said Naruto with a foxy grin making the female blonde blush a bit.

"Wow Cecilia-san, you sure know how to act," said one of the girls.

"That's right, isn't it? Since there are two boys here, you need to give them some popularity," said another girl.

"Of course, as an elite of the elites I must set a good example for the others to follow," said Cecilia as she puffed up her chest with pride while Naruto simply shook his head in amusement.

"I'm not so much for popularity," said Ichika.

Suddenly there was a flash of light which surprised him and he looked up to see a girl wearing glasses and holding a camera in her hands.

"Hi hi~, my name is Kaoruko Mayazumi and I'm from the newspaper club. I'd like to take a picture of you, also I would like for Cecelia-chan to be in the picture as well," said the girl.

Cecilia perked up upon hearing that "You mean the two of us?"

"Of course, you're both a hot topic in the academy owning a personal IS. It might even be good to have a handshake or something like that,"

"Sounds okay, how about it Ichika? Wanna take a photo with us?" asked Naruto.

"I'd rather sit this one out Naruto, so you can go ahead and take it," said Ichika.

"If you say so, what about you Cecilia-chan?"

"I'd like to Naruto-san, naturally I'll be receiving a copy of the photo right?" asked Cecilia happily.

"That's for sure! Come on, stand up so that you can take the picture," said Kaoruko.

Naruto was standing up when Kurami leapt from Nohotoke's lap and sat on Naruto's shoulder much to his surprise.

" **You're not leaving me out of this Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami.

" _If you want to Kurami-chan,"_ thought Naruto with a smile

[ _Somebody's jealous_ ] thought Kushina with a smirk as she had been watching all this silently.

"Okay, now shake hands, stand a bit closer please, smile a bit more brilliantly," said Kaoruko as Naruto and Cecilia did as she asked "Okay that's it, I'm going to take it,"

Right before she pressed the button for the shutter to click…everybody immediately moved in to appear in the photo much to Cecilia's dismay and Kushina's amusement.

"Why is everyone else inside it?!" said Cecilia.

"We can't let Cecilia have a head start, can we?" said one of the girls.

Naruto tried to contain his laughter when he saw Cecilia pouting about it, then they continued on with the party until it was time for them to return to the dormitory, though Naruto noticed that Kushina has been snickering about a real live soap opera but shrugged it off as he went to bed.

The next morning, Naruto woke up from his bed while grumbling something about making a giant laser cannon to destroy the sun as it keeps waking him in the middle of good dreams. He looked at the calendar which was hanging on a wall and saw that it was the weekend meaning that there are no classes for the day.

[It's time for some IS training Sochi-kun] said Kushina.

Naruto let out a groan upon hearing that "Come on Kaa-san, won't you give me a break? It's Saturday,"

[No way young man, Minato-kun and I agreed that you'll be training in the mornings, then you can have the rest of the day to yourself, remember?]

"…yeah I remember, might as well get this over with,"

Naruto got up from the bed and went to take a bath before dressing up in casual clothing, then he opened up a closet and took out a duffle bag which contained his training gear before heading over to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Afterwards Naruto headed over to the locker room of one of the battle arenas to change into his pilot suit, he reached into the duffle bag and pulled out a scroll which had the kanji 'Training' on it. Then he opened the scroll and channeled chakra onto one of the seals which released a large upright metallic suitcase with wheels.

" **Now that you have what you need, let's head to the arena,"** said Kurami.

Naruto nodded in affirmation as he wheeled the suitcase out into the center of the arena, there he laid the suitcase to its side and opened it to reveal two large spheres the size of a basketball and two sets of wings. He took one of each out and assembled it together **(Think it as the mechanical version of the golden snitch from Harry Potter except than it doesn't flap its wings)** then he connected it with his S-Touch.

[Starting Up. Fleet Drone online] said LUNA

Then the drone which was powered by seals containing chakra took to the air and was flying around in random directions.

"Perfect, time for some target practice," said Naruto then he equipped Odin and held an arm out before saying "Equip Assault Rifle!" then the said firearm materialized in his clutches **(VHS-D2).** Naruto aim at the drone and fired but the drone had detected the incoming projectiles and darted to the side, this didn't stop Naruto as he fired again and again with a few shots being able to hit the drone. Then he switched to shooting while on the move as he glided across the ground or flew in the air while shooting at the drone, he would at times switch between the assault rifle and the dual semi-automatic handguns to get a feel of them as he practiced on reducing the time it takes to reload his firearms.

The rifle had run out of ammo as he quickly ejected the cartridge clip for it to disappear as a spare clip materialized in his free hand before he slotted it into place and was about to fire at the drone again when he heard a voice from behind.

"Naruto-san?"

He turned around to see that it was Cecilia in her pilot suit, his helmet unfolded as he sent a voice command to put the drone in standby mode "Cecilia-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Well I was on my morning stroll and was passing by when I heard gunshots coming from inside the arena so I was curious to see what it was. May I ask what you are doing?" said Cecilia as she approached Naruto.

"I was doing some training with Odin, it's something I'll be doing on the weekends from now on. I'm practicing on my accuracy with my firearms," said Naruto.

"Really? May I ask what that is?" Cecilia asked while pointing at the drone hovering in the air.

"That's a fleet drone, it's something I invented by myself. It's capable of moving around at high speed and it's perfect for target practice,"

"That is quite an interesting invention Naruto-san,"

"Thank you Cecilia-chan, would you like to try it out?"

"I would like to," said Cecilia,

Then she equipped Blue Tears as Naruto used a voice command to reactivate the fleet drone which started to once again fly around in random directions. Cecilia proved herself to be a skilled sharpshooter as she landed a lot shots with her sniper rifle without the use of her drones. Naruto assembled the second fleet drone and set it to the air before reequipping Odin, then he resumed practicing his accuracy. However it somehow turned into a game for who is able to land hits on the drones the most, it was for a while until the drones ran out of power.

"Looks like you won Cecilia-chan, you're pretty good," said Naruto while he was disassembling the fleet drones and putting the pieces back in the suitcase which he intends to recharge with his chakra later.

"Of course Naruto-san, I've been practicing with my Blue Tears for a long time," said Cecilia as she puffed up her chest with pride.

"I can tell, how about we do this again next week?" said Naruto, closing the suitcase and setting it upright ready to be wheeled out.

"You mean you want me to train with you again?" asked Cecilia with hope in her eyes.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Sure, if you want to,"

"I would love to Naruto-san!"

"Then it is settled, I'll see you later Cecilia-chan," Naruto wheeled the suitcase away leaving Cecilia who was just standing there looking blissful.

After taking a shower in his dorm room and changing clothes, Naruto was sitting in the monorail which was heading towards the mainland. He took out his S-Touch and opened the to-do list which contained a list.

"As much as I like the cafeteria food, it doesn't hurt to cook my own food sometimes especially since the room has a small kitchen," said Naruto.

" **True, it's been a while since I last ate anything that you cooked Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami.

[Also buy a lot of vegetables Sochi-kun, I don't you eating too much junk food] said Kushina.

"Okay Kaa-san," thought Naruto.

When he disboarded the monorail, Naruto hid behind a large bush and unsealed the Kitsune cycle from the storage scroll. Then he used the GPS of the goggles as he rode into the city. After a few turns and bypassing traffic on the streets, Naruto finally reached his destination which was a department store. He entered the building and followed the directions to the kitchenware section where he bought a microwave, electric kettle, blender, rice cooker and even an indoor grill. He carried the items over to the check-out and paid for them with his MasterCard. Naruto then hid in an alley to seal the items in a storage, before riding of to his next location which was a grocery store. There he bought some fruits, vegetables (much his distaste), frozen foods, snacks, beverages, a dozen packs of instant ramen and more.

After paying for them, Naruto was walking out of the store in direction of another alley with a bag of fruits and vegetables in one hand, a bag of frozen food and beverages in another while wedging a bag of the instant ramen and snacks in between to prevent it from dropping. He was walking quickly around and ended up bumping into someone which made the bag containing the ramen fall to the ground though he was able to keep a firm grip on the other bags.

"Dang it!" Naruto muttered under his breath at seeing the contents on the floor.

" **You should have been more careful, Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami who had caught up with him.

[She's right Sochi-kun] said Kushina with a scolding tone.

" _Yeah but I wanted to seal these away as soon as possible to store them in the fridge,"_ thought Naruto sheepishly then he heard someone talk to him.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was walking," said a rather feminine voice which he judged to be the one he bumped into.

Naruto looked to see a teenage girl with light brown hair tied in twintails with a yellow ribbon at both sides, she also has a petite figure comparing to the other girls he had met so far. He also noticed that she was carrying a pink duffel bag while dressed casually.

"That's alright, I wasn't looking where I was going either," said Naruto.

"Well let me help you pack these up," the girl then packed the ramen and snacks back into the bag and held it out for him to hold in between again "You seem to like ramen a lot,"

"Of course, ramen is the food of the gods and nothing can beat that. Even my mom loves it," said Naruto with pride.

[That's right dattebane!] said Kushina before blushing in embarrassment for her verbal tic coming out.

"Really? I also love ramen! My name is Lingyin Huang though you can call me Ling," said the girl with a smile which made a fang poke out from her lips.

"Mine's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore, this is Kurami my cute little vixen," said Naruto with a foxy grin as Kurami was thankful for her fur as she was blushing "It's nice to meet a fellow ramen lover such as yourself,"

"Same here, maybe the next time we meet we could go to a ramen stand and have a bowl," said Ling.

"It's a promise then, I hope to see you again Ling-chan!" said Naruto as he walked away.

"Same here Naruto!" said Ling as she too walked away.

[She's a nice girl, I like her] said Kushina.

" **Well she shares your personality Kushina-chan, that's probably why you like her,"** said Kurami.

[Now that you mention it, you might be right. Though I get the feeling that we might run into her again]

Naruto had finally entered an alley and sealed the food into another scroll, then he rode his way back to the monorail and returned to his dorm room. Then he packed some of the fruits, vegetables, drinks and snacks into the fridge and put the others away in the shelf. He unsealed the kitchenware and arranged them properly before making meal of vegetable ramen noodle stir fry with fruit juice for him and Kurami who had changed into her human form.

After eating and washing the dishes before having ice cream for dessert, Naruto used his S-Touch to contact Fabio. The screen opened up a window to display his stepfather who was smiling upon seeing him.

"Ah Naruto, it's good to hear from you. Have you called Maria and Sonia? They really missed you," said Fabio.

"Not yet but I'll call right after this, I wanted to check on how Tou-san is and the second IS coming along," said Naruto.

"It's coming along just fine, my team and I are making good progress on the second IS with Minato's help especially with its weapon equipment which will be capable of changing the weapon's form and parts flexibly towards any battle situation, we call it the Multi Gimmick Sack or MGS for short,"

"Whoa that's pretty amazing, so how long will it take before it's complete?"

"It will take some time until it's at the stage where it can be used in battle, just keep in mind that we'll send over along with Minato's core," said Fabio.

"Okay then, I'll talk you later. Bye dad," said Naruto before ending the connection.

After calling Maria and Sonia, it was getting late so he went to bed with Kurami and fell asleep.

Meanwhile we look outside the dormitory and to our surprise, we see Ling standing outside the entrance of the IS academy while dressed in the uniform with a smirk on her face.

"So this is the IS academy, I can't wait to see you again Ichika,"

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, I've noticed that some of the readers thought Naruto came off as weak against Cecilia, well keep in mind that training for a battle and actual battle are two different things and it was his first time battling with an IS unlike the fights he had back at the elemental nations. Also it's not so easy coming up with battle scenes like these. Anyways look forward to the next chapter as always and don't forget to read and review as usual.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	6. A Reunion and Uninvited Guest

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 5: A Reunion and Uninvited Guest**

"Have you guys heard that the class representative for Class 2 was changed?" said one of the girls in the classroom.

"Yeah, I heard that she was replaced by some transfer student," said another, Naruto and Ichika looked confused upon hearing that.

"A transfer student at this time of the year?" said Ichika.

"Yeah it's pretty weird, most transfers would have been done in the earlier parts of the year," said Naruto.

"I've also learnt that this girl came from China," said Nohotoke who was currently cuddling Kurami.

"It must be that she became wary of my prowess and decided to transfer in?" said Cecilia with a puff of her chest.

"What kind of person is she? Is she strong?" asked Ichika.

"At this point, only people from Class 1 and 4 have their own personal IS. So it's easy," said a girl.

"That information is outdated, the class representative for Class 2 already has a-,"

Naruto along with the others in the classroom turned to the source of the voice while curious on why it stopped in midsentence, then his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing someone very familiar and was mirroring his current expression.

Naruto shot to his feet while pointing at Ling who was pointing back at him while screaming comically "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Naruto?! What are you doing here?!" asked Ling who was wearing a modified uniform with the skirt shortened and her sleeves are detached from it.

"I should be asking _you_ that question! What are you doing here?!" said Naruto.

"You know Ling Naruto?" asked Ichika who seemed to know her as well.

"In a way, I bumped into her when I went shopping in the mainland yesterday," said Naruto.

"Hang on, if you're here then you must be the second male IS pilot I've heard about," said Ling.

" **Then she must be the transfer student and probably the class representative for Class 2 and also a representative candidate for China as well,"** said Kurami.

[Well it's nice to see her again despite the surprise] said Kushina.

" _They met yesterday, or importantly Naruto went shopping? I missed a great opportunity to go out with him!"_ thought Cecilia with a pout.

"Anyway I came here to declare war on Class 1, you guys won't win so easily," said Ling confidently.

"Heh, we'll see about that Ling, right Ichika?" said Naruto with a smirk.

"You're right about that Naruto, besides acting all cool really doesn't suit you Ling," said Ichika.

"Hey why are you saying something like that?!" said Ling, the next thing she knew was that she received a bonk in the head "Who did that?" she turned around and flinched upon seeing who it was behind her.

The person was none other than Chifuyu "It's now time for a brief homeroom period,"

"Chi-Chifuyu-san," said Ling fearfully.

"Call me Orimura-sensei, now go back to your class, you're being a bother," Chifuyu walked into the class and towards the desk.

"S-sorry," then Ling turned to face Naruto and Ichika "I'll be coming again, so the two of you better not run away," she walked off with a huff.

"So she's a representative candidate?" said Ichika as he and Naruto sat back down.

"It seems that way," said Naruto.

On recess, Naruto and the others went over to cafeteria for and were standing in queue with Ling standing ahead of them as she waited for her order.

"I'm still surprised that you're the transfer student of Class 2, though I kinda wished that you had contacted me beforehand," said Ichika.

"Then that would have ruined our dramatic reunion, but that wasn't the case I was surprised myself when I didn't to see someone whom I had just met yesterday," said Ling while looking at Naruto who was standing behind Ichika.

"Sorry about throwing a wrench in your plans Ling, but you can't blame be since I was just as surprised as you are," said Naruto.

"I guess that you're still afraid of Chifuyu-nee huh?" said Ichika.

"T-that's not true, it's just that I can't handle her very well," said Ling.

"Ichika, your sister's disposition can make anyone tread lightly around her," said Naruto, with Ling nodding in agreement.

Then the cook appeared with tray holding Ling's food "Here's your ramen,"

"I can see that you still like ramen huh Ling?" said Ichika with a smile.

"Of course I do, it's my favorite," said Ling

"And she's not the only one, I'm just as much of a ramen lover as she is," said Naruto with a grin while receiving a tray with a bowl of miso pork ramen and a smaller bowl of steak for Kurami.

[That's my Sochi-kun!] said Kushina happily.

" **Like mother like son,"** thought Kurami with a smile.

Then they went to sit at the tables with Ichika, Ling and Houki sitting on one while Naruto, Cecilia, Nohotoke and her friends sat on another right next to them.

"Could it be that Ichika-san and Ling-san knew each other from a long time ago?" asked Cecilia.

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah Ichika told me that they were childhood friends back when they were kids,"

Meanwhile Ichika was having a conversation with Ling with Houki watching them with rapt attention.

"I was surprised to hear that you are an IS pilot when I was watching the news," said Ling.

"I wasn't expecting to end up here either, but how come you didn't know about Naruto being the second male IS pilot? I'm pretty sure the whole world knows about it," said Ichika.

"Umm, that's because I was busy with other things so I didn't take note of it," said Ling turning away from Ichika to hide the blush on her face but Houki saw it and frowned.

"Ichika I want to know about who this girl is and why this is the first time I've seen her with you?" asked Houki.

"I was thinking the same thing Ichika, who is she?" Ling had leveled a gaze on Houki who responded with her own.

"Ling happens to be my childhood friend," said Ichika obliviously.

"That's right, I'm his childhood friend and what does that make you?" said Ling with a smug look on her face.

"Actually Houki is a childhood friend too, she's my first childhood friend while you're the second. Houki had transferred out at the same time you transferred in," said Ichika.

" _So I'm his first,"_ Houki smiled happily at the thought while Ling pouted.

"Say Ichika, since we both have a personal IS how about having a training session together in the arena after school?" said Ling.

"Hold on, training Ichika is my job not yours!" said Houki indignantly.

"I was asking Ichika, not you," Ling replied.

"Well you don't need to bother because he asked for my help and I agreed,"

"But you refused before," said Ichika.

"And I agreed in the end to teach you about the IS,"

"I bet that I could make a better teacher than you since I own a personal IS," said Ling smugly.

"I think not!"

Lightning clashed between the girls as they glared at each other while Ichika simply sat there looking confused at why his two childhood friends tense towards each other. Naruto was watching over his shoulder and shook his head amusedly before turning his attention back to Cecilia and the others as they focused on their meal.

After school, Naruto had followed Ichika and Houki to one of the smaller battle arenas and watched as Ichika was in Byakushiki with the Yukihira Nigata active while Houki was using one of the mass produced IS called the Uchigane after gaining permission from the administration. Both of them engaged each other in a spar while Naruto and Kurami were observing their performance.

" _Looks like Ichika has improved quite a bit in piloting Byakushiki unlike earlier before when he sparred with us,"_ thought Naruto.

[You're right about that, Ichika-san had trouble getting used to the controls at first but he soon attuned to it in the middle of the battle] said Kushina.

" **Not to mention that his kendo skills has gotten a lot better, which should be expected with Houki retraining him,"** said Kurami with a smirk.

When Ichika had received Byakushiki, he requested a sparring match from Naruto so as to learn how to battle with him to which the blond complied. During their spar, it was discovered that Byakushiki only has one weapon which is a close range sword called the Yukihira Nigata which once was wielded by Chifuyu back when she was an IS pilot. The sword is capable of performing a technique called the barrier void attack which cut's the opponent's barrier and inflicts damage directly to the main body, however the technique drains Byakushiki's shield energy for the attack which makes it 'a double-edged sword'. So Naruto suggested to Ichika to practice on making sure-hit strikes so as to avoid wasting shield energy and incapacitating himself in battle.

With that said they resumed their spar with Naruto utilizing Retaliator, Beam Guarder and Dual Katana for close combat before switching to his firearms to teach Ichika how to evade long range attacks and get in close to attack.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed that Ichika and Houki had stopped clashing blades and stepped back before shutting down there is with Byakushiki returning to its closed form and the Uchigane going into standby mode as Houki jumped off it.

"I guess you guys are doe for the day," said Naruto.

"Yeah, I'll be returning to our room first so I'll see you tomorrow Naruto," Houki turned around and walked away from the two boys and out of the arena.

"Looks like you've gotten stronger Ichika," said Naruto.

"It's thanks to Chifuyu-nee, Houki and your help that I've gotten this far. Although I could tell that you weren't all out on me since you never used your attack functions on me," said Ichika.

"You gotta learn to walk before running Ichika, get stronger and I'll start using them on you,"

"Okay then, I'll be heading back,"

"You go on ahead, I want to do some personal training of my own," said Naruto.

Ichika nodded in affirmation before walking away from the arena towards the locker rooms. Naruto waited for a while before Kurami finally spoke up that there's no one around the arena. Then he reached into his pocket and took out four paper tags with seals drawn on them which he placed on the four corners of the field, he stood at the center and proceeded through a set of handsigns before ending in a snake seal as the tags glowed brightly before fading away.

"Now that the concealment tags active, time for some ninja training said Naruto while talking off his uniform and unsealing his training gear to change into them. Then he created a large number of shadow clones would proceeded to practice on their ninjutsu to keep them sharpened while Naruto took out a scroll and was reading the contents as Kushina explained the details.

[So how goes the training on combining your elemental chakra with the Rasengan?] asked Kushina.

"Well so far I'm able to make the Rasengan with one hand now, but it seems like I'll be needing a shadow clone who will infuse the elemental chakra into the jutsu," said Naruto.

" **Just like when you started out on learning the Rasengan right Naruto-kun?"** asked Kurami to which he nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah but I'm gonna have to train on it outside the academy as you know how destructive the jutsu can be," said Naruto, back when he was in Italy Naruto would go the forest nearby and practice his jutsu which often results in cut trees, boulders with holes in them and deep gashes on the ground. After reading a certain portion of the scroll, Naruto stepped forward and weave a series of handsigns before rearing his left arm backwards.

"Wind style: Drilling Gale Joust!" the wind gathered around before taking shape of a cone it spiraled rapidly like a drill, Naruto held it for a while before thrusting his arm forward as the technique launched itself at high-speed and slammed into the barrier but thankfully the seals held strong as the wind dissipated upon itself. Naruto took note that his arm was covered with wounds which was already healing itself.

" **Seems like the jutsu would injure you as well as your opponent, it's best you use it only when the situation calls for it,"** said Kurami.

Naruto nodded in affirmation before resuming the training by sparring with his clones for a while until it got late in the night, then he dispelled the clones and took down the barrier before making his way back to the dormitory. He was walking through the corridor towards his room when he saw Ling walking towards his direction while carrying a pink duffle bag, He noticed that she looked upset about something which bothered him a bit.

"Hey Ling, what's up?" Naruto called out to her.

Ling was surprised to see Naruto walking towards her and blushed a bit upon seeing how his muscles could be seen through his black t-shirt which was hugging tightly to his body.

"Oh Naruto, where are you coming at this time of the night?" asked Ling.

"I was doing some personal training when I lost track of time, so why are you looking so glum?" asked Naruto with a look of concern.

"It's nothing for you to worry about, I'll be okay," Ling tried to wave it off but Naruto frowned not looking convinced.

" **Something must be bothering her, I can sense her depression,"** said Kurami.

"No something's definitely bothering you and I'm not going to shrug it off when a friend needs my help,"

"No it's okay really,"

Naruto refused to listen as he nudged her towards his room, then he went to change into a clean t-shirt and shorts in the bathroom since he had taken a bath in the showers of the locker room while Kurami cuddled up to her. Afterwards Naruto went to the kitchen and started up the rice cooker with the rice boiling, then took to cutting some vegetables before tossing them into a preheated frying pan and stirred with a wooden spoon. Naruto strained the rice after it was done and poured into the frying pan as well while stirring to mix the contents and added some seasoning before finally distributing into three separate bowls. Naruto handed a bowl to Ling and the other to Kurami before sitting down with his own.

After Ling took a bite, she was surprised to find that it tasted delicious and proceeded to eat with fervor while Naruto smiled at seeing that her depression was gone.

"How was it?" asked Naruto.

"It tastes great! I never would have thought that you could cook so well, and this is coming from me since I worked with my father who runs a restaurant," said Ling happily.

"Thanks for the compliment Ling, now could you tell what happened to made you so sad?" asked Naruto.

Ling hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and spoke "You see I went to see Ichika after his IS training to catch up on old times, I found out that he was having that Houki girl as his roommate since they didn't prepare for his arrival and I guess for you too. I figured that I could switch rooms with her since Ichika said that he would have been uncomfortable with a complete stranger,"

Naruto, Kurami and Kushina all sweatdropped at what she just said "I don't think that would have been the case since Houki is Ichika's first childhood friend and he's okay with her, was it their refusal to let you switch rooms with them that got you so upset?"

"That wasn't it, back when we were kids, Ichika promised that he would eat the meals which I will cook for him when I got better at cooking…but he completely mistook it for free meals!"

" **I know exactly what she's talking about, but it's going to be pretty hard for a boy to get the meaning especially at a young age,"** said Kurami.

[Same here, but one thing we know is that boys find it difficult to understand girls] said Kushina.

" _Are you two forgetting that I'm here and I can hear what you're saying?"_ thought Naruto.

[We haven't forgotten, we're making sure to remove the denseness that you inherited from your father bit by bit or the chances of getting grandkids will be at an all-time low]

Naruto mentally groaned before tuning them out as he turned his attention back to Ling who was still talking.

"…so I challenged him into a match in the Inter-Class Tournament that will be held next week where the winner gets the loser to consent to a single request," said Ling.

"And I guess Ichika accepted the challenge right?" asked Naruto to which Ling nodded in affirmation "I'll be rooting for the both of you and I hope that you make up afterwards,"

"Okay…but after I beat him to a pulp and he does my one request," Ling smirked at thought of it while Naruto and Kurami simply shook their heads in amusement.

After finishing their meal and cleaning the dishes with Ling insisting to help, they bade each other goodnight as Ling returned to her room and Naruto went to bed.

Then next morning, Naruto woke up and got himself ready for class. He met Ichika along the way though he noticed that Houki wasn't with him and asked why.

"After what happened yesterday with us and Ling, she told me to get kicked by a horse and die but I don't know why she said that," said Ichika looking clueless.

" _How dense can this guy be?"_ thought Naruto with a sweatdrop.

" **Like you're one to talk, just that you now notice things a bit more easily,"** said Kurami.

They arrived at the main hall of the building and noticed that a large number of girls had gathered around the school notice board and went to check it out. Turns out that it was the matchups for the Inter-Class Tournament and on one of the first rounds, Ichika will be going up against Ling while Naruto would be facing someone else from another class.

"I'm facing Ling in the very first round?" said Ichika.

"Looks like it, but I'll be rooting for the both of you," said Naruto while patting Ichika in the back.

"Yeah in the meantime, I'll to do some training with Chifuyu-nee,"

Afterwards they went to class to start on their lessons for the day. This carried on until the day of the tournament finally arrived and the stadium was fully packed as the spectators were waiting excitedly for the matches to begin. Meanwhile Ichika was at the maintenance area onboard Byakushiki with Naruto, Cecilia and Houki standing next to him.

A holoscreen appeared before Ichika displaying the diagram of an IS which happens to belong to Ling.

"Huang-san's IS is Shenlong. It is a close quarters, melee type IS, just like your Byakushiki Orimura-kun," said Maya from the P.A. in the observation room.

"This may be your first official match but be ready for anything, be especially cautious about those spherical devices floating above her shoulders," said Naruto.

"Got it Naruto," said Ichika.

"If you fight like we practiced and don't act stiff, then you'll be sure to win," said Houki.

"I wish you luck Ichika-san," said Cecilia.

Ichika then stood on the pad which shot forward until it reached the end of the ramp where it launched him into the air with the flight system coming online, then he looked to see Ling hovering in midair as well waiting for him.

"If you apologize now, then I might lower the degree of torture that I'm going to inflict on you," said Ling.

"How can I apologize for something you haven't explained to me clearly? I prefer that you don't hold back on this fight," said Ichika.

"Then I'll tell you this, the Absolute Defense which automatically activates to protect the pilot when the shield is down isn't perfect, enough force could pierce through the shield and directly harm the pilot,"

"I'm aware of that," Ichika replied.

Then Chifuyu's voice was heard through the loudspeaker "Let the match begin,"

Ling reached behind her back and took out what looks to be a Chinese scimitar with a magenta dragon emblem on the blade which glowed, Ichika drew out the Yukihira Nigata with the energy blade active before he charged forwards to attack.

Ichika lashed out with a diagonal slash which was deflected by Ling's scimitar before she retaliated with an overhead slash. Ichika raised his blade to block, instead of pushing back against the impact he allowed it to push him downwards and he performed a backflip while using the momentum to unleash an uppercut though Ling hastily flew backwards to avoid the attack.

Ichika kept up the pressure with back to back slashes and Ling continued to maintain her defense by deflecting the incoming sword strikes.

Ling backed away once more and was smirking at Ichika "So far I'm impressed with your skills, I wonder if you can stand up to this!" she held out her other hand and there was a flash of light which faded away to reveal her holding another scimitar much to Ichika's surprise before regaining focus.

" _She's a dual wielder just like Naruto, I better watch myself for her attacks,"_ thought Ichika.

Ling rushed at him and proceeded to unleash a multitude of slashes from both blades, forcing Ichika in defense via parries and blocks. Suddenly he used the hilt to deflect a descending slash before responding with a horizontal which would have made a successful contact inflicting decent damage on Ling's IS had she not backed up by a few inches before quickly retreating to evade any kind of retaliation.

Ling growled in anger "I'm not letting you getting away unscathed!" one of the spheres glowed with yellow energy before something burst out of it.

Ichika somehow noticed it and darted to the left but whatever it was that Ling activated grazed part of the IS judging from the smoke slightly seen on the shoulder.

"I'm far from through with you!" this time both spheres charged with energy before firing, Ichika hastily raised the Yukihira Nigata before him as a makeshift shield however the impact sent him plummeting towards the ground though managing to recover in time to land on his feet.

In the observation room, Naruto with Kurami on his shoulder, Cecilia and Houki were with Maya and Chifuyu, watching the ongoing battle from the multiple screens and they had seen what just occurred.

"So I was right to suspect those devices," Naruto muttered.

"What was that?" asked Houki.

"That was the Impact Cannon, it compacts and pressurizes space before firing them as bullet shells," said Maya.

"So it's a third generation like my Blue Tears," said Cecilia.

"Also the trajectory is linear but as the barrel and projectile are invisible, avoiding the incoming attacks would be very difficult,"

"This is bad for Ichika, he already has it tough against a dual wielder and now he has to put up with the fact he has to watch out for invisible bullets," said Naruto.

Currently said person is darting left and right to dodge the projectiles, true that he couldn't see them but it didn't mean that he should stay in one place for too long.

" _If staying too far will get me shot at then I have to get in close to attack, but Ling won't make it easy for me and my shield energy is reducing with Yukihira Nigata active. My best chance is to use_ that," thought Ichika.

He proceeded to fly in random directions with Ling in pursuit while firing the Impact Cannons rapidly but unable to land a hit on him much to her annoyance.

"What is he up to?" asked Cecilia.

"I think I know what he's planning to do," said Naruto while looking at the screen.

"What do you mean?" asked Houki.

"He plans to use the Ignition Boost which I taught him," said Chifuyu.

"Ignition Boost?" Cecilia asked curiously.

"It is a surprise attack that allows you to instantly travel at top speed for a moment and close in on your opponent. With it he can take on a representative candidate at par, however it can only be used once. This won't be the first time you saw it as Naruto used it when facing Alcott," said Chifuyu.

Cecilia looked at Naruto in surprise "You used the Ignition Boost? But when?"

"It was when you fired those homing missiles at me and I had to switch to Jet Mode to escape, I activated the Ignition Boost at the same time I used my attack function to create that sonic boom to destroyed the missiles," said Naruto.

"Amazing," Maya was in awe while Chifuyu stared at Naruto before returning her focus to the battle.

Ling was getting more annoyed as Ichika kept on avoiding her attacks and not even fighting back, she lashed out with a slash but it was avoided and Ichika suddenly disappeared from her sight, surprising her greatly.

"Where did he go?!" Ling looked around frantically then her HUD beeped out a warning which she looked behind…only to see Ichika dashing towards at high-speed with Yukihira Nigata ready to attack.

"It's over!" shouted Ichika about to attack.

*BOOOOOOM!*

A beam of light broke through the skylight of the stadium and crashed into the ground, resulting in a large crater and smoke rising to the sky, interrupting the match much to everyone's confusion.

In the observation room, red lights were blinking and the consoles were beeping out loud in alarm as Maya was currently searching for the cause.

"What?! What's happening?!" asked Cecilia confusedly.

"It's a system damage! Something seems to have pierced through the arena shield borders!" said Maya.

Chifuyu reached over to grab a mic from the computer console to talk through the loudspeaker "The match is cancelled! Orimura, Huang, retreat at once!"

[Sochi-kun, I'm detecting an unknown IS from within the crater!] said Kushina.

"An IS?" said Naruto in shock.

" **And what's strange is that I don't sense a heartbeat or chakra from it, there's no one operating that IS,"** said Kurami.

Meanwhile Ichika and Ling were looking down at the crater, trying to see what stands at the center of it.

" _What is in there?"_ thought Ichika, then screen opened up on his HUD.

[IS of unknown organization detected. You are currently locked on]

"I'm locked on? That means it's targeting me?"

Ling contacted him on the comm link "Ichika, you need to return to the pit!"

"But what about you?"

"I'll buy some time which you'll use to escape,"

"Run away and leave you behind? There's no way I'm going to-WOAH!" Ichika quickly moved to the side just in time to avoid a beam of light which had burst from the cloud of smoke "Besides it seems to have its sights set on me,"

Both IS pilots looked through the smoke to seen who it was that shot at Ichika. It was a black IS that is over two meters tall in height and resembled a mechanical giant with two bulging arms which appear to have four powerful looking cannons in each of them, and its mask appears to have several circular optic lenses.

"Orimura-kun, Huang-san, you need to get out of the arena immediately! The teachers are on their way to suppress the unknown IS!" said Maya through the comm link.

"I can't, that IS is after me and if I leave, it might go on a rampage and attack everyone," Ichika responded.

"That's true, but-"

"I'll stay behind and help," said Ling.

"But Huang-san-"

"Ling, it's coming!" they shut off their comm links right as the unknown IS took to the air by expelling the exhaust from the numerous jet propulsion nozzles all over its body and headed straight towards them.

"Orimura-kun, Huang-san, please respond!" Maya tried to reconnect to them but to no avail.

"Since they claim to want to do it, then let them be," said Chifuyu nonchalantly.

Maya along with everyone else looked at her in surprise "Orimura-sensei, how can you have such a carefree attitude at a time like this?!"

"Calm down and have some coffee, you get upset when you don't get enough sugar," Chifuyu went over to a coffee maker to do just that. However a certain trio weren't falling for that act.

" **She may say that but I can sense her anxiety,"** said Kurami.

[She's really worried about her brother but doesn't want others to see that] said Kushina.

" _Yeah, to the point that she made a small blunder,"_ thought Naruto as they watched Chifuyu about to raise the cup of coffee her lips to drink.

"Umm Sensei…you put salt in the coffee…not sugar," said Maya.

A pink tinge appeared on Chifuyu's cheeks as she turned away to hide her embarrassment. As much as Naruto wanted be amused at her mistake, he's rather focused on much more important things.

"Orimura-sensei, I need to get in there and help them," said Naruto.

"As much as I would want to…take a look at this," Chifuyu pointed at a screen which displayed 3D diagram of the arena.

[Emergency Level 4, All Gates locked]

"A level 4 lockdown?" said Houki.

"And all of the doors are locked too. Could that IS have caused this?" said Cecilia thoughtfully.

"It seems so, we can't evacuate them out or go out to help them," said Chifuyu.

"Then what about the government? Surely you would contact them for this emergency?"

"We're already doing so and the third year students are trying to crack the system as well. As soon as the barrier shields are shut up, we can send in our troops," said Chifuyu.

"I don't think Ichika and Ling will have that long, which is why I'm going to speed things up," Naruto walked towards the console while taking out his S-Touch, he reached for the side and pulled out a USB cable which he plugged into the system and proceeded to tap on the keypad as numerous windows displaying alphanumeric characters appeared in the screen.

[Specter Program uploaded and executed] said LUNA.

"What are you doing Naruto-kun?" asked Maya, Cecilia glared at her for calling Naruto with a suffix.

"I'm uploading a viral program into the system firewall, with it I should be able to sneak by the hacked firewall and take it down from the inside out," said Naruto.

[Sir, level 1 security has been unlocked] sure enough, the door to the observation room opened up.

"Continue to unlock the other levels then afterwards execute the exorcism program to remove the virus,"

[Yes sir]

Naruto placed the S-Touch down and turned to leave.

"Uzumaki, where are you going?" asked Chifuyu sternly.

"To help Ichika and Ling like I said earlier," Naruto replied.

"As much as I appreciate your assistance in reopening the gates, I can't let you do that,"

"And may I ask why?" Naruto looked at her with a frown.

"Even though Odin is a strong IS, you would end up being a nuisance to the assault troops. Have you ever partaken in a cooperation training? What your position in a team is? The level of enemy you trained against? And how long you can continue to operate?"

"No I haven't," said Naruto, technically he trained in teamwork back when he was still in Konoha but now he's in a new world and has yet to do so with other IS pilots.

"If you understand, then it's fine,"

"However, if standing here doing nothing but watch my friends put their risk is your best advice? Then I'm going to have to disregard it,"

"Uzumaki, are you disobeying me?" Chifuyu glared at Naruto, but he stood there unfazed.

"A good sensei once told me 'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum' I'd rather be seen as a rule breaker than someone who doesn't have a heart to care about the people close to him,"

Naruto ran out of the room while the others especially Chifuyu watched him leave in stunned silence while Kurami stayed behind and was smirking at them.

" _Naruto-kun, please be careful,"_ thought Maya worriedly.

" _To speak that way to me, just who are you Uzumaki?"_ thought Chifuyu.

" _I hope that there's a chance that I could be one of the people that he cares about,"_ thought Cecilia with a blush.

" **You girls have no idea how stubborn Naru-kun can be especially when it comes to protecting the people precious to him,"** thought Kurami with a knowing smile.

Ling fired shot after shot at the unknown IS which was flying low along the ground but managed to finally land a hit on it, destabilizing its flight.

"Ichika, now's your chance to attack!"

Ichika swooped towards the IS and lashed out with a descending slash, however the IS twirled out of the way and responded with a punch. Ichika ducked under the attack and tried aiming for the chest but could only inflict glancing blows due to the IS' reflexes before it flew away from him.

"Darn it Ichika, that's the fourth time you missed, aim properly!" said Ling.

"I _am_ aiming, whoever is piloting the IS must be good or I wouldn't ha-Ling watch out!" Ichika called out in warning.

"Eh?" Ling was confused for a moment but that's what gave the IS the opportunity to fire a shot from its arm cannon which hit Ling's shoulder, causing her to lose control of flight for a few moments.

The IS flew towards her with a fist reared back ready to punch when something from out of nowhere flew towards it, the IS stopped in its tracks and backed away to avoid the unknown object as it crashed into the ground.

"What was that?" said Ling with Ichika wondering the same thing, they looked at where the object crashed and saw something rather interesting.

It is a massive broadsword shaped like a giant butcher knife with an extremely long handle, the blade has two cut outs with a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer to the handle.

"Yo, looks I made it in time!" everyone turned to the voice and were surprised to see Naruto hovering a few distance away with his helmet open and a smirk on his face.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" asked Ling.

"Well it's obvious that I'm here to help out, especially since this IS is actually unmanned,"

"You mean that there's no one inside it?" said Ichika.

"Yeah, if you've noticed the way it moves and let's not forget that it's not even attacking us right now while we're talking,"

"But that's impossible, an IS can't move without a human pilot. That's how it has always been," said Ling.

"Well there's a first time for everything, and my scanners aren't picking any source of life in it not even a heartbeat," said Naruto to cover the fact that Kurami was the one who sensed that.

"If what you say is true, then that means we don't need to hold back and can go full force," said Ichika.

"Yeah but how much shield energy do you have left?"

"Only enough to use the barrier void attack one more time,"

"Then conserve it until we give you the opportunity to land a lethal blow, Ling and I will try to wear it down for that," Naruto stretched a palm towards the giant sword, a kanji appeared and glowed with the same for another on the sword. It shuddered bit before wrenching itself free from the ground and flying into his hand hilt first.

[Sochi! The IS has locked on to you!] said Kushina, no sooner she said that did the IS aim at Naruto and fired.

Naruto dashed to the side to evade the shot before dashing forward to engage as his helmet closed back on his face "Now then let's get wild!"

 **Music Start: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance OST; Return to Ashes (Platinum Mix)**

The IS fired a round at Naruto, the blond weaved left and right to evade while holding the zanbatou before him and used the flat end to deflect any shots that would have hit. Once close he performed a horizontal slash aiming for the drone's torso but it was dodged and he had to dash backwards a punch in retaliation.

"Substitute Dual Semi-Automatics!" the zanbatou disappeared and in its place, said firearms appeared in his hands. Naruto took aim and fired at the drone, pelting it with bullets " **Attack Function: Hyper Energy Bomb**!" he held the dual guns before him as a sphere made of blue energy took form. The drone took aim at him and was about to open fire when yellow projectiles approached from above courtesy of Ling.

"You're not getting anywhere close to him!" shouted Ling before quickly moving out of the way.

"Locked on and fire!" Naruto shot the blue projectile as it moved towards its target at high-speed and slammed into the drone before unleashing an explosion, sending it flying backwards towards the ground, and it could be seen that damage was inflicted judging from the dents and electricity sparking from it "Substitute Retaliator and Beam Guarder!" then the twin bladed beam lance and energy shield appeared. Naruto performed a barrel roll to the left then dashed to the right to evade the salvo before raising the Beam Guarder to deflect any shots which could not be avoided.

" **Attack Function: Sonic Lance!"** the beam lance emitted a blue aura before it spread throughout the IS then Naruto lunged at the drone with a high-speed thrust. Drone had detected the incoming attack and dashed to the side for Naruto to pass by harmlessly "I don't think so, time for a U-turn!" he stabbed the lance into the ground and swung around before using the momentum to launch a dropkick which impacted with the drone's torso, knocking it back "Ling, you're up!"

"Okay!"

Ling dove in with her blades at the ready as she hacked and slashed rapidly with the unmanned IS darting left and right, she connected the hilts of both scimitars together to form a double bladed staff which she twirled around before launching a forward thrust and missed again with the drone backing away once more. The shoulder cannons charged up unleash a round on Ling when a blue streak pierced through one of the cannons causing it to explode and another blue streak followed to destroy the second cannon.

Ling traced the blue streaks to look behind her to see Naruto standing a short distance away holding an assault rifle **(VHS-D2)** with smoke coming out if the muzzle.

"Sorry tin man, but those shoulder cannons had to go. You could have blown someone's eye out with those," Naruto sneered.

[You've really got its attention now Sochi] said Kushina as the 'Locked On' appeared on the HUD.

" **He's been good at that even back at the elemental nations,"** said Kurami.

The unmanned IS quickly darted away from Ling and headed straight towards Naruto as it proceeded to throw punches at the blond but he darted left and right to dodge them while backpedalling to maintain a certain distance although he refused to switch out the rifle as he formulated a plan.

"Wait for it…wait for it…" his eyes widened as he saw the drone launched a haymaker punch at his head "Now! **Attack Function: Serpentine Snipe Shot**!" Naruto rolled to the side to dodge the punch before propping up on one knee as he took aim and pulled the trigger, a blue streak shot out of the muzzle which took on the form of a snake with its fangs bared. The snakelike projectile sped through the air and pierced through its left leg joint, severely hindering its mobility.

The drone stumbled backwards from the unexpected strike and Naruto didn't let up as he launched himself with a hand to the side and a blue spinning sphere took form in it.

"If you want some breathing space then let me help you out, Rasengan!" Naruto rammed the blue sphere into its chest and watched as it grinded into the metal before the spiraling force sent the drone hurtling away from him.

"Take this!" Ling stood at the ready as her Impact Cannons charged up before firing in much higher power settings which slammed into the drone, juggling it in midair "Ichika, now's your chance and get it right this time!"

"I got it!" yelled Ichika diving in from above with the Yukihira Nigata reared backwards, then he unleashed a diagonal slash that successfully on the drone starting from the left shoulder and continued all the way down to the waist before falling into two clean pieces with the red lights on the optic lens fading away.

 **Music End**

"Nice one with the coup de grâce Ichika," Odin's helmet opened up to show Naruto smirking as he floated over to him.

"Yeah at least you didn't mess this one up Ichika," said Ling joining in as well.

"Thanks guys, I'm just glad that it's all over with. But the question is what was it doing here and why it came after me and then Naruto when he appeared?" said Ichika confusedly.

"Who knows, but we should…" Naruto noticed something from the corner of his sight before quickly moving towards Ichika and Ling and shoving them away much to their confusion.

"Hey! What was that for!?" yelled Ling.

*BOOOM!*

A purple beam slammed into Naruto and exploded before their very eyes much to their horror.

"Naruto! But how?!" said Ling in shock, they turned to see the supposedly destroyed drone's upper body propped up on one arm while the other had pointed its arm cannon at where Naruto was.

"It was still active?! That's impossible!" said Ichika.

The unmanned IS set its sights on them and proceeded to charge up for another attack…

"Next time you shoot to kill, add an extra shot to make sure. **Attack Function: Chou Plasma Burst**!"

The smoke cloud was suddenly blown away unknown winds to reveal Naruto equipped with his Beam Guarder and his currently twirling the Retaliator above his head. Ichika and Ling watched with relief and awe as the twin bladed beam lance emitted yellow energy which swirled around him before rising to the air to form a large spiral pattern ball of energy, Naruto leapt into the air a bit above the energy ball with the Retaliator emitting yellow energy again before thrusting at it to launch a powerful beam at the unmanned IS completely obliterating it leaving behind a large trench.

Naruto landed back on the ground after putting away lance and shield "That ought to send that tin can back to Oz,"

[You got that right Sochi-kun, that drone actually thought that it could catch you off guard. We trained you for things like that] said Kushina proudly.

" _That you did,"_ Naruto thought fondly before turning to meet Ling and Ichika.

"Naruto, I'm so glad you're okay. I thought it got you with that attack," said Ling.

"Not really, after I got you guys out of the way I managed to equip the Beam Guarder in time to block the beam," said Naruto.

"We're just glad that you didn't get hurt Naruto," said Ichika.

Then a screen appeared on their HUD to display Maya who looked very worried.

"Is everyone okay? You're not hurt are you?" asked Maya.

"It's alright Maya-sensei, we're all okay,"

"Thank goodness, I was so worried," Maya let out a sigh of relief.

Another screen appeared to display Cecelia "That was very dangerous Naruto-san! You could have been seriously hurt!"

"Sorry Cecelia-chan, they would have gotten hurt if I didn't do what I did," Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"I know but I still didn't like it,"

"Alcott-san is right Naruto, you should be more careful next time," said Ling.

"Okay but no promises, if I see anyone close to me in danger. I'll definitely protect no matter what," said Naruto "Anyway I suddenly have a craving for ramen, anyone wants to join me after reporting to Orimura-sensei?"

"You already know my answer," Ling grinned.

[That's right, there's nothing like a bowl of ramen after a hard earned victory-ttebane!] said Kushina sagely.

"I think I'll pass, I've had enough excitement for one day," said Ichika.

"Okay more for us,"

With that said, the three IS pilots took to the air and made their back to the maintenance area before reporting to the observation room. Unknown to them a spherical device with a propeller focus it camera on them before making a pinging sound and flew away.

Elsewhere in an unknown room where pieces of machines and computer screens could be seen. As of this moment, sounds of beeping could be heard and we trace it to a large chair where someone sits on it while typing rapidly on a holographic keyboard. She is a beautiful woman with a curvaceous figure, big breast and long purple hair reaching to her hips. She also wears a pair of robotic ears and a frilly main-like blue and white dress.

She was currently working on an unknown project when a camera logo popped up on the screen much to her surprise.

"Ara? I wonder what drone-kun has recorded for me today?" said the girl curiously the girl tapped the icon and a window appeared and displayed a recorded video. She watched as the three IS pilots went up against the unmanned IS with looks of excitement especially the ones in the white IS and royal blue-purple color IS.

"Wow Ikkun is pretty amazing but that other IS is quite powerful, that must be one the Italians had made and their pilot is a male," the girl tapped a few times on the keyboard and a window popped up to display a profile of Naruto and let out a squeal upon seeing "He's soooooo cute with those whisker-like marks like a fox kit! I wonder if he purrs if I rub them, I'm going to find out more about him or my name's not Tabane the Genius!" said the girl.

 **Custom Attack Functions:**  
Serpentine Snipe Shot: Fires a snake-like projectile at mach speed to pierce certain weak spots and inflict crippling damage

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, Sorry about the wait due to schoolwork and stuff. I hope that this chapter will meet your expectations, I'm planning to include a special character from one of the popular anime but I won't tell you just yet but I can give you a hint** **the gender is female and the Anime's title begins with R** **. I truly appreciate the favorites and follows. In the next chapter, a certain 'male' transfer student will be making an appearance so look forward to the next chapter.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	7. Moving House and a Masculine Addition

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 6: Moving House and another Masculine Addition**

[Sochi-kun, may I know where it is you're going?] asked Kushina curiously.

If you're wondering what's going on, the thing is that it's been a week since the unmanned IS broke into the arena. Things pretty much went back to normal routine, though the difference was Ling invited herself into Naruto's weekend IS training after finding out from the other girls especially Nohotoke from Class 1 much to Cecelia's annoyance.

Ling claims that training with Naruto could help her get strong enough to beat Ichika to the ground, Naruto took it in stride failing to catch Ling stealing glances at him but Kurami and Cecelia did with the latter looking at her darkly.

As of now, Naruto had woken up in the early morning of Saturday, dressed up, took the monorail to the mainland and was currently riding on the Kitsune cycle on the freeway through the city to who knows where with Kurami sitting in front of him.

" **I was wondering the same thing, ever since Chifuyu-san announced about off-campus vacations you starting searching stuff online through the S-Touch and you won't even tell us what it is you're looking for,"** said Kurami.

" _You two will find out soon enough,"_ said Naruto much to their confusion.

He exited from the freeway by taking a turn and after a few more through the city, LUNA spoke up through the goggles that he wore to cover his eyes as well as view the GPS.

[Arriving at marked destination]

Naruto stopped the bike near the sidewalk and took off the goggles and helmet as he looked to the side, Kurami followed his sight and saw a tall building, then she noticed a large signboard above the door and read off it.

" **A real estate agency, what are you planning to do Naruto-kun?"** asked Kurami.

" _As much as I liked to stay in the dormitory, I felt that getting an actual home could make a lot of things better. A home away from home as well as keeping the extra stuff away from prying eyes, let's not forget that Sonia-chan could come over to stay for vacation,"_ said Naruto getting of the bike and walking towards the building.

[That's quite thoughtful of you Sochi-kun, but why couldn't you have done it earlier before?] asked Kushina.

" _Mostly because it didn't come into mind until Chifuyu-sensei spoke about the short-term vacations in class this week, that's when I started to search online for a house to purchase,"_

By then Naruto had entered the building and was currently in the reception room, he walked over to the front desk where a man sat behind it.

"Hello sir, how may I help you today?" asked the man politely.

"I'm looking to buy a house and I wanted to see what you have so far," said Naruto.

"Very well sir, here are the pictures of houses which are currently on sale," the realtor held out a book which Naruto took and opened up for him to see while Kurami sat on his shoulder to look as well.

He flipped through the pages several times, looking at some of the houses but none of them met his or his mother's expectations. He turned another page and peered through it when a certain picture caught his eye and immediately showed it to the man.

"Excuse me but can you show me the details of this one?" asked Naruto.

"Of course," the man reached into a drawer and took out a brown folder, he opened it to take out the blueprints and pictures of the building's interior for Naruto to look through.

"This property has been set in a prime residential location in Hiroo with the homelike condominium overlooking a courtyard and features spacious living areas including living, dining, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a partial one, a working fireplace and a sun room. There is also a storage room and a 2 car parking garage in the premise," said the realtor.

" _What do you think mom?"_ thought Naruto.

[It's perfect, I approve of it Sochi-kun] said Kushina happily.

Naruto gave a low whistle after looking at the price for the house but took out his MasterCard to make the purchase much to the man's surprise and then signed the contract before receiving the keys to the house as well as the papers to signify his ownership.

"Thank you for your purchase, we'll contact you later to provide further information," said the realtor.

Naruto nodded in affirmation and left, after making his way to his bike Naruto was about to start his engine when the ringtone on his S-Touch sounded **(Hero by Skillet)**. He put on his headphones and pressed the call button to answer the call.

"Hello?" said Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, it's me Ichika," a familiar voice responded.

"Yo Ichika, what's up?"

"I checked out your room hoping to find you but you weren't around," said Ichika.

"I had a few things to do in the city, but I'm done for now,"

"That's great, I wanted to invite you over to my friend's place so I can introduce you to him. I can send over the address and we can meet up,"

"Cool, see you soon,"

"Okay bye," then the connection was cut off.

Naruto waited for about two minutes when he received a message containing the address from Ichika, after inputting the information into the S-Touch, he activated the GPS on his goggles and proceeded to ride along the route. Soon enough he stopped and parked the bike at the marked location, there he sat on the seat and was playing a game on his S-Touch to while away the time.

"I wonder what's taking Ichika so long, he said that he would be here soon," Naruto muttered to himself.

"Hey Naruto!"

The blond looked up to see Ichika approaching him while dressed in a casual clothing of a blue and white T-shirt with brown trousers.

"Hey Ichika, what took ya so long?" asked Naruto with a smile.

"Sorry about that, I was checking on things at home which isn't far from here," said Ichika sheepishly.

"No prob, so who's this guy you want to introduce me to?" asked Naruto.

"His place is just a few minutes from here, just follow me," said Ichika before walking away with Naruto right behind him. They walked for a bit before stopping before what appears to be a restaurant with a large banner on the front written 'Gotanda Eatery', Naruto took notice of a first level above and speculated that it might be where they sleep.

"Let's go inside," Ichika and Naruto went in and saw a kitchen that is in full view of the guest tables but is separated by a counter. That is when someone appeared from behind the counter and was greeting them.

"Hello and welcome to…Ichika? Hey man, long time no see!" said the person, he was a male with long scarlet hair that is tied with a grey bandanna, he also wore a grey t-shirt and blue jeans.

[It's nice to see a fellow redhead after a long time] said Kushina.

" _Though I still wish I had inherited your red hair too mom,"_ thought Naruto.

" **You would still be handsome if you had either hair,"** said Kurami rubbing against Naruto's cheeks, making him smile.

" _Thanks Ku-chan,"_

"Hey Dan, it's been a while," said Ichika with a smile.

"Yeah man, who's the guy next to you?" asked the guy known as Dan.

"The name's Naruto Uzumaki and this is Kurami, I'm his classmate over at the academy," Naruto waved in greeting.

"You must the second male IS pilot I heard about on the news, I'm Dan Gotanda and I've been friends with Ichika since middle school," said Dan in response.

"Well it's nice to meet you,"

"Same here, how about you come up to my room since there are any customers here at the moment?"

"Sure thing," said Ichika.

The three boys went up to the first level and entered Dan's room, there they chatted about random things or Naruto's lifestyle in Italy. At the moment, the trio are playing Super Smash Bros Brawl on Dan's Nintendo Wii.

"I gotta admit that I'm jealous of you two attending the academy where there are only girls, you guys must be having a good time," said Dan with a smirk.

"No I'm not," said Ichika.

"Lies, all lies. Reading all those emails that you send makes me imagine paradise,"

"Well my perverted godfather would have agreed with you there, though it might have resulted in feminine fury raining upon him should he have gotten on their bad side," Naruto grinned at the thought of Jiraiya getting beaten by Chifuyu and the others with Kushina and Kurami smirking as well.

"Come on Naruto, don't say that, you might make me have second thoughts," said Dan.

"I really felt uncomfortable being surrounded by girls, which was why I felt relieved when Naruto and Ling showed up," said Ichika.

"Oh so Ling came to the academy huh?" said Dan, Naruto noticed that he smiled as if he knew what was going on and smirked as well.

Suddenly the door was kicked opened, startling the guys and almost triggering Naruto's instinct to unseal one of his kunai from the storage seal on his wrist. They turned to see that it was a girl with long scarlet hair tied in a bandanna just like Dan though Naruto turned away upon seeing her current state of clothing. She happened to be wearing a pink loose top and deep violet shorts that aren't fully zipped.

"Onii-chan, lunch is ready so you should hurry up an-," the girl was talking when her eyes set upon Ichika and then Naruto who was still looking away "I-Ichika-san?!"

"Oh Ran, it's been a while and sorry for our intrusion," said Ichika with a smile.

The girl named just stood there stunned before she blinked and looked down to see her unkempt dressing before hiding behind the door with a blush of her cheeks. After dressing much more properly, she poked her head from behind the door.

"Y-you were here? And who is that with you?" asked Ran.

"Oh this is my classmate from the IS academy, Naruto Uzumaki and his pet fox Kurami," said Ichika then he turned to Naruto "And that's Ran Gotanda, Dan's younger sister,"

"It's nice to meet you," said Naruto with a foxy grin, making her hide a bit shyly.

"S-same here, _he's so handsome like Ichika-san_ ," said Ran.

"You could have knocked on the door, you'll be considered a shameless woman-," Dan stopped in midsentence upon seeing Ran giving an extremely angry look.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she whispered angrily.

"O-Oh…I didn't tell you? Sorry about that, my bad," Dan chuckled weakly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Naruto give him a look of pity and understanding, having seen and experienced the very same thing from Sakura and Tsunade.

" **You were like that back in the academy Kushina-chan,"** said Kurami.

[No I wasn't!] said Kushina.

" **Minato can attest to it,"**

[Okay fine, maybe I acted like that just a little but they asked for it by calling me a tomato head] said Kushina.

Later on, the group went back downstairs to the restaurant for lunch although it appears that Ran had changed into a loose white dress.

"Please make yourselves at home, sorry about my appearance before," said Ran with a pink tinge on her cheeks.

"Oh I see you changed, are you going somewhere?" asked Ichika.

"Um well…you see…"

"Are you going on a date?" Naruto fought the urge to facepalm upon hearing Ichika's dumb question.

"Definitely not!" Ran responded instantly.

"You must act like that at school too," said Dan.

"He definitely does," Naruto spoke in agreement.

"What do you guys mean?" asked Ichika confusedly.

"Nothing at all, I feel bad for Ling though," said Dan.

Afterwards, Naruto said goodbye to Dan and Ran before seeing Ichika off to his place as it turns that his home is quite close to the eatery. Then he rode back to the academy and was currently relaxing on his bed in the dormitory while drinking a bottle of soda pop. He was about to fall sleep with Kurami curling up next to him in her human form when his S-Touch was ringing again for the second time.

" **Awww, who's that calling at this time?"** said Kurami with a pout.

Naruto picked up the handheld and flipped it open to see the caller id "I don't know, there's no name and the numbers are encrypted," he cautiously looked around before answering the call.

"Hello, is this Naruto Uzumaki?" he heard a chipper female voice.

"Uh…yes, who's this?" asked Naruto, he quickly held S-Touch away from his ears when the unknown female caller responded rather loudly.

"Yay! I finally get to talk to Naru-kun! I've been wanting to talk to you for so long!" the female spoke happily.

"Whoa take it easy, you still haven't told me who you are yet," said Naruto.

"Oh how silly of me, I'm Tabane Shinonono the super genius!"

Everyone stared at the S-Touch in shock as if the caller is actually in the room with them, Naruto hesitantly responded into his handheld.

"Tabane Shinonono, as in the creator of IS?"

"That's me, but you can call me Usagi-chan!" said Tabane cheerfully.

[What could she want with Sochi-kun?] said Kushina confusedly.

"How did you get this number?" asked Naruto.

"It was so tough for me you know? Every time I tried to access your handheld's data, some program called Cerberus would pop up and block me no matter how hard I try. Then I remembered that Ikkun is friends with you so I got your number from _his_ phone," said Tabane, they could somehow tell that she was pouting judging from her behavior so far.

" **At least that guard program your father made is working like it's supposed to if it's able to block her,"** said Kurami.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" asked Naruto.

"Do you purr like a kitten when you get your whisker marks rubbed?"

Naruto blushed red at the unexpected question "I-I don't know what you're talking about dattebayo!" he clamped his mouth shut but it was too late.

"Kawaiii you even have a verbal tick and since you didn't answer my question, then I'll just have to come over to find out for myself,"

"Wait, you called me just to find out about that?"

"I almost forgot, I saw your fight with the unmanned IS. I'm really impressed with the functions of your IS to the point that it can even transform which is a first even for me. I can't wait to talk to you foxy-kun , bye-bye," then the link was cut off before Naruto could say anything as he just stared at the handheld looking confused.

"Did that just happened?" asked Naruto.

[The fact that you spoke to the creator of the IS a minute ago? Then the answer is yes]

" **She's quite different from what I thought she would be like, but how did she know about your battle with the unmanned IS? I thought that it was covered up?"** said Kurami.

"Well earlier she said that she tried to access my S-Touch but was blocked, she probably did the same with the academy's database and acquired the recording of the battle," said Naruto.

[One thing is for sure, you've caught her attention which is sure to increase once the second IS with Minato-kun's core were to arrive] said Kushina.

"I'm more concerned about the fact that she wants to rub my cheeks, getting that from Sonia was bad enough," said Naruto clearly embarrassed with Kushina and Kurami giggling at him.

Next day it was back into the academy after the short term vacation, Naruto was walking towards and was close to the door when he heard the girls muttering something which he couldn't hear quite clearly. He passed through the door and noticed that they all fell silent upon seeing him much to his confusion.

" _That's weird, I wonder what that was all about?"_ thought Naruto, he went to take his seat and saw Cecelia walking up to him with a smile on her face.

"Good morning Naruto-san," said Cecelia happily.

"Same to you too Cecelia-chan, do you have any idea what the girls were talking about? They kept quiet once they saw me," said Naruto.

"I don't know either though they seemed quite excited,"

" **I'll go and out what it is they're talking about,"** said Kurami through the mind link.

" _Go right ahead,"_ thought Naruto.

Kurami hopped off the table and pranced over to where Nohohon and her friends sat. She yipped to catch their attention which they did before Nohotoke scooped her up in her arms with a smile on her face.

"Good morning Kurami-chan, you're looking cute as always!" said Nohotoke as she cuddled Kurami before turning to the others.

"Really Nohohon-chan, you should have been more accurate with the details," said one of the girls.

"But I thought I got it right this time," said Nohohon sheepishly while Kurami opened an eye in interest of their conversation.

"But everyone believes that if anyone wins the incoming tournament this month, then she can get to date either Orimura or Naruto," said the other friend.

" _ **What?!"**_ thought Kurami in shock.

"But I mentioned we overheard Houki telling Ichika that if she became champion of the tournament, she'll go out with him," said Nohohon.

" _ **How could a rumor like that turn into a date with either Naruto-kun or Ichika-san? It must have mixed up somehow,"**_ thought Kurami confusedly.

It was at time Ichika arrived right before Chifuyu showed up and everyone returned to their seats, then Kurami got off Nohohon's lap and scampered back to Naruto before perching on his shoulder.

" _Did you find out what they were talking about Kurami-chan?"_ asked Naruto.

" **Oh nothing, just the usual girl gossip,"** said Kurami.

" _Oh okay,"_ thought Naruto.

Maya stood at the teacher's desk with a smile on her face "I have an announcement to make, today I'll be introducing a transfer student to or class,"

"A transfer student, at this time?" most of the students were surprised and curious about who this new student is to be joining them.

Then the sliding door opened the new student stepped inside and everyone including Naruto and Ichika were stunned upon the appearance of the person. The new student had blonde hair that was long enough to be tied into a ponytail. What caught everyone's attention was the fact that the student is wearing a white blazer with long trousers just like what Ichika and Naruto are wearing right now...which could only mean one thing.

"My name is Charles Dunois and I come from France, nice to meet you all," said the blond student.

"A-A man?" asked one of the girls shakily.

"Yes, I heard that there were two others in the same situation as me here. So I transferred from my country to…"

"KYAAAA!"

"A male student and he's coming to our class!"

"He's so handsome, the type that you'll want to protect!"

The girls squealed out in joy much to Charles confusion.

"Now all of you settle down and be quiet!" said Chifuyu and immediately the class was silent "We'll be doing IS practice with Class 2 so everyone should change quickly and gather up at school ground 2. Also Uzumaki and Orimura,"

Both boys looked at her attentively.

"I want you to look after Dunois, since you're both males too. Now move out!"

Charles approached Naruto and Ichika as they got up from their seats.

"Are you Uzumaki-kun and Orimura-kun? Nice to meet you, I'm…" Charles began.

"As much as we would like to get to know each other, we'll need to save it for another time as we need to hurry out of here, come on," said Naruto, then he held onto Charles' hand much to his surprise as they ran out of the class with Ichika following them.

"We change in the changing room at the Arena, we always go first to change before the girls in every practice session, so you'll have to get used to it," said Ichika.

"Why's that?" asked Charles.

"Mostly because there are no changing rooms for males and since we the guys change clothes very quickly, we're allowed to go first," said Naruto.

"O-okay," said Charles with a pink tinge on his cheeks much to both boys' confusion.

"Is something the matter?" asked Ichika curiously.

"I-It's nothing at all!" said Charles.

" _He's kinda weird,"_ thought Naruto.

" **That's the same thing you said about Hinata,"** said Kurami.

" _Well Hinata's a girl while he's a guy,"_

Suddenly a girl popped out from a corridor much to their surprise.

"I find the rumored male student and he's with Uzumaki-kun and Orimura-kun!"

No sooner she said that than a large crowd of girls gathered around Naruto and the others.

"And look, he's holding hands with Uzumaki-kun!"

"Orimura-kun with black hair is nice, but two male blonds is way better!"

"I was afraid of this, guys we're gonna have to run!" said Naruto.

"Right!" said Ichika.

The trio turned around a corner and down a hallway to escape the girls before they got surrounded.

"Why is everyone making such a fuss?" asked Charles nervously.

"Because we're the only guys known so far to be able to pilot an IS, they're very curious about us," said Naruto.

"I guess you're right,"

"We're almost at the changing room," said Ichika.

Sure enough, they had arrived at their destination and stopped to catch a breath except for Naruto who didn't even break a sweat.

"Sorry that I gave the both of you so much trouble," said Charles.

"It's no problem, seeing that we have some time before the practice session, we can properly introduce ourselves. My name is Naruto Uzumaki Salvatore and this is my pet fox Kurami-chan, but you just call me Naruto," said Naruto and Kurami yipped in greeting.

"And I'm Ichika Orimura, you can also me Ichika. It's nice to meet you," said Ichika.

"Okay then, you can call me Charles,"

"Hey guys, we need to get changed since it's almost time for practice and we don't want Orimura-sensei on our case," said Naruto.

Both boys began to change from their school uniforms into their pilot suits with Kurami ogling at the blond, Naruto had just taken off his shirt to expose his chest when they heard a yelp, they turned to see Charles looking away from them with his hands covering his eyes.

"What's the matter Charles? You need to change quickly," said Ichika.

"Okay, but j-just don't look this way please," Charles stammered.

"Sure, though I have no intent to look at you while you change,"

" _I guess he's a shy type,"_ thought Naruto before turning away along with Ichika.

They turned around again only to be surprised at Charles already wearing his pilot suit which happens to be a tank top and burmudas with orange edges and he wears an orange pendant around his neck.

"Is there something the matter?" asked Charles.

"Wow, I know we guys dress quickly, but just wow," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm just used to dressing quickly at home," said Charles nervously.

"It looks like your suit is much easier to wear than ours," said Ichika.

"That's because it's a special model from the Dunois Company,"

"Dunois, it's a family name too right?"

"My stepdad and I know of them, they're supposed to be the largest company in France when it concern the IS industry," said Naruto, having been told about the meeting Fabio frequently attends when he was at Italy.

"You're right Naruto, and my father happens to be the president of the company," said Charles.

"No wonder, cause you seem to have this aura like you're from a high class family," said Ichika.

However Charles looked a bit down after what Ichika said much to his confusion while Kurami was looking at him with a small frown. Later the trio rejoined their class along with Class 2 as they all gathered at the training field for the IS practical.

"We will begin practice starting today," said Chifuyu.

"Yes ma'am!" both classes responded in chorus.

"First, we will be watching a practice combat. Huang, Alcott," said girls responded to their names that Chifuyu called "Since you have personal machines, you should be able to begin immediately,"

"So much trouble, why do I have to?" Ling mumbled.

"I don't feel too encouraged to do this since it feels like I'm in some exhibition," said Cecelia walking forward alongside Ling.

Chifuyu passed by and whispered for them to hear "You two need some enthusiasm, especially this is your chance to show off with him watching,"

Hearing this made tinges of pink appear on the cheeks of both girls as they immediately perked up.

"This is the stage for me, Cecelia Alcott the representative student candidate for England," said Cecelia.

"It's a great chance to you our difference in skills as personal IS holders," said Ling with a smirk with both classes sweatdropping.

"What did sensei just tell them?" whispered Charles.

"Don't know, must be some sort of pep talk," said Naruto.

[More like letting them know that they have an opportunity to impress a certain someone] said Kushina.

"So who shall be my opponent? I wouldn't mind if it's against Ling-san," said Cecelia _"I'll show you who's most suited to be with Naruto-san,"_

"That would be my line, I'll slaughter you," said Ling "And scare you away from my fellow ramen buddy,"

"No need to rush, idiots. Your opponent is…" Chifuyu looked up to the sky to see something diving towards them and screaming.

Everyone else looked up and were surprised to see that it was actually Maya who is currently piloting a green IS but spiraling out of control.

"Maya-sensei?!" said Naruto in shock.

"Please get out of the way!" shouted Maya.

Everyone scrambled out of the way except for Naruto who was rather running towards her, he activated his bracelet and was immediately piloting Odin. He quickly ascended towards Maya with his arms stretched out, once she got close enough, he grabbed her but was also sent spiraling as well.

" _Kaa-san!"_ thought Naruto.

[On it Sochi-kun! Increasing power!] Kushina responded.

The wings released an extra burst of energy enough for Naruto to somersault in midair before managing to stabilize properly and was now hovering while holding Maya in a bridal carry. Maya's face was flushed red and her heart bashed against her ribcage like a drum due to being held so close to the blond.

" _N-Naruto-kun saved me and he's c-carrying l-like a b-b-bride!"_ thought Maya, her mind fell into a fantasy of her in a white wedding dress and Naruto in a blue tuxedo as they walked down the aisle of a cathedral.

Odin's helmet opened up to reveal Naruto's face looking at her in worry "Maya-sensei, are you okay?"

Maya snapped out of her thoughts to answer "I-I'm okay, t-thanks for catching me,"

"Don't mention it, let's get you down," said Naruto with a foxy grin, making her almost faint as they descended towards the ground.

Most of the girls from both classes were squealing how Naruto acted like a hero straight out of a fairy tale while a certain group of girls were watching with jealousy and mentally grumbling about stealing the 'first'.

"Now that the potential disaster has been prevented, let's us begin with the battle. I must warn you that Yamada-sensei is a former candidate representative," said Chifuyu.

Naruto, having reverted Odin to its closed form looked at Maya in shock "You were a candidate representative before? I never would have expected to hear that,"

"T-that was ages ago and I never got past being a candidate student," Maya shyly looked away.

"But it's two against one?" said Cecelia confusedly.

"That's a little unfair," said Ling hesitantly.

"Rest assured, you will lose easily," said Chifuyu, making them frown a bit. "Now then, begin!"

Cecelia activated Blue Tears with Ling doing the same with Shenlong before ascending into the air along Maya in her own IS as everyone watched from the ground in anticipation for the upcoming practice battle.

"I won't be holding back," said Cecelia.

"Same could be said for me," said Ling.

"I'm ready," Maya responded with absolute focus which is a far cry from her usual demeanor.

Cecelia swung into action as she deployed her bits which flew towards Maya while firing along the way, Maya skillfully darted from left to right to evade the oncoming shots but made no move to attack as she took a glance at Ling who was aiming her Impact Cannons and fired as well before using the shield attachment to partially defend against the incoming shots.

Meanwhile the others on the ground watched the ongoing battle attentively while Naruto was still surprised to see Maya fight so expertly.

"Whoa, she's pretty good at piloting an IS," thought Naruto.

[It should be obvious, given that she's a teacher] said Kushina.

Chifuyu then spoke up "Dunois, make a commentary on the IS Yamada-sensei is using,"

"Y-yes ma'am, Yamada-sensei's IS is a Raphael Revive from the Dunois company. It's a machine developed at the end of the 2nd Generation, but its specifications rival the early 3rd Generation machines. In terms of deployed mass production IS models, it went on sale the last but has the 3rd largest user-base in the world. By changing the equipment, it can be configured for all types including physical combat, sniper role and defense," said Charles.

[In other words, this particular IS can be equipped many varieties of weapons unlike the Uchigane that is more on close combat] said Kushina.

They looked up to see Maya using a sniper rifle to exchange fire with Cecelia, she immediately darted to the side to evade a slash from Ling who wielded her Souten Gagetsu in dual mode. Docking the sniper rifle, Maya reached to the side of her waist and pulled out a short combat knife and rapidly parried the strikes, suddenly she pushed Ling back and quickly ascended right as a blue projectile struck Ling by mistake, turns out the shot came from Cecelia with her Blue Pierce laser rifle who looked surprised.

"Watch where you're shooting!" Ling shouted angrily.

"Well you should have kept her still for a few more seconds!" Cecelia retorted.

She would have said more had her systems not alerted her of incoming fire from Maya and took evasive maneuvers…however she ended up crashing into Ling who was moving into position for another attack. Maya flew above them while swapping the sniper rifle for a grenade launcher as she took aim and fired, the girls could only look up in shock before the projectile slammed in to them and exploded before crashing into the ground.

"How could I have lost?" said Cecelia in disbelief.

"You were having your evasive movements predicted by her so easily!" said Ling.

"Same could be said for you too!"

[They would have stood a better chance against Maya had they worked well together, plus Maya is quite the veteran that she could be graded as Chuunin level] said Kushina.

" _Yeah I realized that the hard way,"_ thought Naruto, recalling the test he underwent when he was in Team 7 and the humiliation.

[Maybe you could teach them later about teamwork] Kushina suggested.

Chifuyu walked towards Cecelia and Ling while Maya landed back on the ground.

"You should understand the abilities of teachers now, so from now on treat them with respect. Now we'll be doing group practice, personal machine holders will be the leaders, split up now,"

Immediately several girls rushed towards Ichika and Charles, though there were a higher number of girls in Naruto's group.

"Please take care of us Uzumaki-kun," said one of the girls.

"We can't wait to learn a lot from you," said another girl.

"We'll be in your care!" all of them spoke at once while bowing to him with a hand stretched out.

"O-okay, I'll do my best," Naruto responded reluctantly.

[If I don't know any better, it's like they're proposing to you Sochi-kun] Kushina spoke teasingly.

" _Kaa-san I don't need that in my mind right now!"_ thought Naruto with a blush.

Cecelia and oddly Ling looked at Naruto and his group with envy.

" _Times like these, I wish I wasn't a personal IS holder,"_ thought Cecelia.

" _Why does it bother me that Naruto is being surrounded by those girls when I like Ichika?"_ thought Ling confusedly.

At the moment, Naruto was guiding one of the girls who was piloting the Uchigane by walking step by step.

"Remember to view the IS as an extension of yourself, it will respond to your movements and act accordingly," Naruto instructed, the girl complied and her movements became much smoother before finally stopping at his command.

"Phew, I was so nervous. Thanks for teaching me Uzumaki-kun," said the girl happily.

"You're welcome, keep on practicing and you'll be doing it with your eyes closed," said Naruto with a foxy grin, making the girls around him blush. He glanced to the side and saw Ichika in Byakushiki holding a blushing Houki in a bridal carry to the cockpit of the Uchigane and smirked.

"I bet a hundred bowls of ramen that he's doing it with no romantic intentions,"

[No need to bet cause it's pretty obvious] said Kushina.

Afterwards everyone returned to the academy and changed back into their uniforms while Naruto reunited with Kurami. They were walking to the cafeteria when they heard a call from behind.

"Naruto-san!"

They turned to see Cecelia quickly walking up to them with her hands behind her back.

"Cecelia-chan, what's up?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Erm you see…I happened to wake up early this morning and prepared lunch but I ended up making too much. So I hoping to invite you to the roof to eat with me," said Cecelia holding out a picnic basket from behind.

" _ **Oh-ho, the impression by cooking tactic…well played, If only I could do the same as a student,"**_ Kurami grumbled.

"That's nice of you Cecelia-chan, I would like to," said Naruto with a smile.

"That's wonderful, let us be on our way," Cecelia smiled back but in her mind, a chibi version of her was jumping around with joy.

They made their way upstairs to the rooftop, but when they opened the door, Cecelia's smile turned into a frown with what they're seeing. Turns out that someone was already there and it happened to be Ichika, Charles, Houki and Ling, thought it was noted that Houki wasn't pleased either and it's didn't have anything to do with their arrival.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" asked Naruto.

"Houki had invited me to the roof for lunch, but then I thought it would be better if we all eat together and was about to call you and Cecelia over," said Ichika.

Naruto, Kurami and Cecelia all had a deadpanned look on their faces at how dense the guy is as it was so obvious that Houki was inviting just him and not anyone else.

" **Can this guy get any denser?"** said Kurami.

[Not even Minato-kun's density is to that point] said Kushina.

"Well since we're here, might as well join them okay Cecelia-chan?" said Naruto.

"If you say so Naruto-san," said Cecelia with a pout.

They walked towards the group and settled on the grass next to them, with everyone with the exception of Naruto, Ichika and Charles opening their lunches. Ling had Sweet and Sour Pork, Cecelia's was sandwiches of different fillings and Houki's was a bento **(Can't exactly describe as there are various types)**.

"Why don't try one Naruto-san? This will show you that there are delicious thing in England too," Cecelia held the basket out to Naruto.

"Sure thing Cecelia-chan, I'd like to try one," Naruto reached out and picked a sandwich before taking a bite. Suddenly his tongue was assaulted by a taste which was anything but pleasant _"Oh kami, wha-what's this?! The texture's normal but the taste…I can describe it!"_

[Sochi-kun, is something wrong?] asked Kushina worriedly.

"So how's the taste, is it good?" asked Cecelia curiously.

Naruto's complexion had turned purple and was currently sweating as he forcibly swallowed the bite before smiling nervously.

"Words fail me when I try to describe the taste," said Naruto neither telling a lie nor the truth.

"Really, then perhaps Kurami would like to have one too," Cecelia turned to see the vixen curled and asleep "I guess she's too tired to eat,"

However Kurami sensed something wrong with Naruto when he bit into the sandwich and had linked with his senses and almost yelped upon sensing the taste. So when she heard Cecelia wanting to offer her a sandwich, she quickly pretended to be asleep to avoid sharing the same fate with Naruto.

Meanwhile Houki had offered a bit of her bento to Ichika who willingly complied before helping himself to a piece of chicken and taking a bite.

"Wow, this taste delicious! This must have involved lots of work," said Ichika.

Houki smiled brightly at his praise "Its flavoring is ginger, soy sauce, grated garlic, and I mixed in some pepper before frying. And to add a little bit more flavor, I also added a hint of grated radish,"

"That explains the great taste," said Ichika.

Ling frowned at the exchange and was about to butt in when she glanced to the side and noticed Naruto looking at the sandwich with discomfort and at how Cecelia was smiling and felt even more annoyed before approaching them.

"Hey Naruto, wanna have a bite of my Sweet and Sour Pork?" asked Ling.

"Are you sure Ling?" asked Naruto while Cecelia frowned at her.

"Yeah you treated me to a meal before, so now it's my turn. So give it a try," Ling held out a pair of chopsticks to the blond.

" _Naruto-san cooked for her? Since when? I can't fall behind!"_ thought Cecelia.

"Okay then," Naruto took the chopsticks and used them took pick a piece before putting in his mouth and ate it "Whoa this taste pretty good, _and thankfully overwrote the previous taste_ ,"

"Thanks, I did tell you that I worked in my father's restaurant," Ling smiled smugly at a frowning Cecelia.

"It's nice to see that you're all getting along so well," said Charles.

"Well we're all friends here," said Ichika with a smile.

"That's pretty much it," said Naruto in agreement.

After school, Chifuyu revealed that Charles will be Naruto's roommate given that he has an extra bed and Ichika is still having Houki as a roommate with the rooms not being ready yet. At the moment Naruto wearing a t-shirt and shorts is treating Charles who is wearing a tracksuit to a cup of green tea.

"I've never this kind of tea before, but it's very soothing," said Charles.

"First time for everything, even new food," said Naruto taking a sip of the green tea while rubbing behind Kurami's ears, making her purr blissfully.

" **Aaaaahhh, I'm in heaven,"** murmured Kurami.

"I heard that you and Ichika do IS training after school," said Charles.

"That's right, and I normally train with Cecelia-chan and Ling on the weekends," said Naruto.

"Then can I join in? I have a personal machine too, and I hope to learn a bit from you,"

"Sure you can, I don't mind and I'm sure the others won't either,"

"Thank you, you can count on me,"

The next day, everyone was in class when Maya arrived to say something quite surprising.

"Umm…I have a happy announcement again today, our class will be joined with a new friend," said Maya before gesturing to the student now standing before them.

She is a girl with long silver hair, a red right eye and a black eye patch on her right eye, reminding Naruto of Kakashi. She wears a modified version of the academy's uniform which is a pair of baggy pants and black jockey boots.

"This is Laura Bodewig, a transfer student from Germany,"

"What's going on?" murmured one of the girls.

"Transfer students, two days in a row?" whispered another.

"It's kinda strange no matter how you look at it,"

"Everyone please be quiet, we haven't finished introducing her yet," said Maya.

"Say your greetings, Laura," said Chifuyu.

"Yes instructor!" said Laura.

This made Naruto quirk an eyebrow in curiosity _"Instructor? Could it be that they met before?"_

" **That might be so,"** said Kurami.

"My name is Laura Bodewig," said Laura

.

.

.

"Ummm…is that it?" asked Maya confusedly.

"That's all," Laura glanced at Ichika and immediately frowned upon seeing Ichika and approached him "So it's you,"

Ichika was confused for a moment but the next thing he knew…he received a backhanded slap from Laura much to the shock of everyone around especially Naruto.

" _What did she do that for?!"_ he thought angrily.

"I will not accept that you're her brother, I will never accept it!" Laura declared with anger.

* * *

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE ON FANFICTION!**

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter, looks like another male IS user has joined the academy and we have another transfer student who has it out for a confused Ichika, is Naruto going to simply stand by and watch or is he going to butt in as always to help a friend? Stick around to find out and let's not forget that a certain someone is targeting the blonde's cheeks.**

 **Before any of you complain about me nerfing Ling and Cecelia in this battle, keep in mind that I'm trying to follow the canon storyline a bit while putting a few twists of my own. So all flamers should put out their blowtorches.**

 **This is Hussbek online with another chapter**

 **Signing out.**


	8. A Cold Grudge and an Untimely Reveal

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 7: A Cold Grudge and an Untimely Reveal**

Upon snapping out of his surprise at seeing Ichika get smacked by the new transfer student, Naruto stood up from his seat and stomped towards Laura with an angry look on his face.

"Hey! What did you do that for?! What has Ichika done for you to hit him like that?!" said Naruto.

"This does not concern you Uzumaki," Laura replied coldly not even glancing his way.

"When it involves my friends, then it becomes my business so start talking," Naruto refused to back down from this.

"Do not make me repeat myself…stay out of my way,"

"Make me,"

As soon as he said that, Laura lashed out with a high kick however Naruto instantly reacted by arching backwards for his hands to land on the ground then spun around to perform a butterfly kick to which Laura quickly jumped backwards to get out of range. Both glared at each other as the rest of the class looked on with worry.

"That's enough out of the both of you! Return to your seats before I hand out any punishments!" said Chifuyu with a stern look as if daring them to continue.

Naruto and Laura continued to glare at each other until Kurami jumped onto his shoulder and yipped softly.

" **Naru-kun, that's enough. We can settle this later,"** said Kurami.

" _You're right Ku-chan, we might as well ask Ichika later about her animosity towards him,"_ thought Naruto, he backed away and returned to his seat but that didn't stop him taking a side glance at her. He also failed to notice the girls whispering amongst themselves about how cool he was when he avoided the kick and retaliated with his own.

Later on, it was time for IS practice joined by Class 2 and everyone were at the training grounds with a few practicing in the IS provided by the academy. It was there that Naruto was having a chat with Ichika about what had happened early in the morning.

"Yo Ichika, what was the deal with that girl that she slapped you like that? Do you know her from somewhere?" asked Naruto.

"I've never met her before in my life…wait she said that she was from Germany. Maybe she was one of them," said Ichika thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"It isn't one of my fondest memories, but when I was a kid, I was kidnapped by a mysterious organization and was locked away in a dark room. I couldn't see or hear anything until suddenly the wall broke down and Chifuyu-nee came to rescue me in her IS. But at that time, Chifuyu-nee was in the finals of the 2nd Mondo Grosso so when she heard of my kidnapping, she abandoned the match hence forfeiting what would have been her win much to the shock of everyone," said Ichika.

[Goes to show how much she cares for him, that's a good sister] said Kushina.

"But how did your sister find out that you were kidnapped?" asked Naruto.

"Somehow the Germans managed to find out about my kidnapping and informed her of it, so as compensation she became an instructor for a year in their country and I hadn't seen her since until I was enrolled in the IS academy,"

"My guess is that Laura was one of her students during her time in Germany, but that doesn't explain why she slapped when this is the first time that she met you," said Naruto.

"My guess is that Laura admires my sister's strength almost to the point of worship, she probably hates me for getting kidnapped which in turn broke Chifuyu-nee's perfect, undefeated record," said Ichika.

Naruto frowned a bit at this "I don't see it to be a good enough reason for her to hate you,"

"I can understand her feelings, because I'm the same as well. I couldn't forgive myself for being so weak that day," said Ichika looking down.

"But you were a kid back then, you couldn't have been able to do anything to defend yourself against guys who were far stronger and experienced than you. It just goes to show how much your sister cares about you more than anything else. Don't blame yourself for something that was out of your control okay?" said Naruto as he placed a hand on Ichika's shoulder.

"Yeah…you're right, thanks for telling me that Naruto," said Ichika with a smile.

"No problem bud," Naruto gave his friend a foxy grin.

"Excuse me Naruto-san, Ichika-san," both boys turned to see Charles approaching them with a smile.

"Hey Charles, what's up?" asked Naruto.

"I was hoping to ask if one of you could spar with me for a while? I want to try fighting Byakushiki or Odin,"

"Why don't you go for it Ichika? I'll be doing a little tune-up for my IS later," Naruto turned to Ichika.

"Oh okay, then I'll be the one to spar with you Charles-san,"

"Thank you," said Charles happily.

[You weren't really going to do any tuning were you Naruto-kun?] said Kushina.

" _Nope just wanted to see what sort of IS Charles pilots,"_ thought Naruto.

He watched as the two squared off before activating their IS with Ichika in his Byakushiki, then Charles placed a hand over an orange necklace as it glowed brightly before finally dimming to reveal his IS. Naruto took note that Charles's IS closely resembles the Raphael Revive like the one Maya uses except that the armor has been modified, there were two sets of wings and an arm sized shield attached to her left arm, but most important of all…

"…It's orange, a great choice of color," Naruto gave a mental thumbs up to his color scheme, he could hear his mother giggling in his mind.

"Here I come, Ichika," said Charles.

"Okay," said Ichika.

Both charged at each other with Ichika repeatedly slashing and Charles using his arm shield to block the attacks, then he took to the air with Ichika close behind, Charles turned around and summoned a submachine gun to his right arm before firing at Ichika who darted left and right.

"Take this!" Ichika dove in from above with a vertical slash, Charles moved to the side and flew high into the air and far from him as he switched out the submachine gun for an assault rifle "Oh no," Ichika took evasive action but Charles proved to be quite a marksman as a majority of his shots made contact.

"He's good at shooting, though not that good like Cecelia-chan," said Naruto.

[I'm pretty sure that Charles-san might have some close range weaponry stored in his IS as well for a surprise attack or such so you should keep an eye out just in case, Sochi-kun] said Kushina.

"Sure thing, though things don't look good for Ichika as Charles won't let him get close to attack while at the same time chipping away his shield energy," thought Naruto.

Like Naruto said, Ichika kept trying to fly towards Charles while avoiding the shots but Charles kept on maintaining the distance between them. Sure enough, Byakushiki ran out of shield energy and he had no choice but to accept his loss.

Afterwards, the male trio were discussing about the spar as well as there is.

"It seems like you've only got an idea of the nuances of long-range weapons," said Charles.

"Yeah, I've been sparring with Naruto from time to time so I've learnt to evade as much as possible while trying to get close enough for a one-hit takedown," said Ichika.

"Does Byakushiki not have an equalizer?" asked Charles.

"That's where the problem is, there are no slots for Ichika to install a weapon with the sword being the only weapon available for Ichika to use," said Naruto.

"It's a guess, but the capacity has been used on a one-off ability,"

"One-off?" Ichika looked a bit confused.

Naruto was the one to explain this time "It is an ability that can only occur when the IS and its pilot are in perfect sync with each other. And like the name says, it's a 'one and only ability' which means that no two IS have the same abilities,"

It sort of sounds similar to the kekkei genkai found in clans or sometimes unique ones back at the elemental nations.

"And I'm sure that the Reiraku Byakuya is Byakushiki's one-off ability," said Charles.

"I see…then what would Odin's one-off ability be then Naruto?" asked Ichika.

Naruto smiled mischievously "Not gonna tell ya, try making me use it during the tournament,"

Ichika smiled as well "We'll see about that then, but the Reiraku Byakuya is a crazy ability which even utilizes shield energy which makes it a doubled-edged sword that shouldn't be used haphazardly,"

"It's quite rare for an IS like Byakushiki and probably Odin to use a one-off ability as most IS access their one-off when they're in their second shift, and also Reiraku Byakuya is the same power that Orimura-sensei used but it's not like they can easily use the same kinds of moves just because they're siblings,"

"Is that so, well we still can't think of any answer even after thinking for so long, so let's forget about it for now," said Ichika with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah, major thinking is mostly reserved for classrooms," Naruto spoke jokingly for the others to laugh.

"You're right, so how about some shooting practice? Here Ichika, you can use this," Charles materialized his assault rifle called vent and held it out to Ichika as a couple multi-colored holographic targets appeared ahead of them.

"Huh, but are we prohibited from using the weapons of others?" asked Ichika confusedly.

"Have you been reading the notes which I gave you? One of them says that as long as the user has registered the other IS pilot, they can use it as long as the owner allows it," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

"He's right, so in other words I've allowed Ichika-san to use Vent with Byakushiki," said Charles.

"Oh okay," Ichika took the rifle and held it the way he normally sees soldiers hold theirs on TV "So I hold it like this right?"

"Let me see…close your armpit down a bit and move your left arm here," Charles moved to his back and adjusted his posture properly.

"Okay," then Ichika proceeded to shoot at the targets with Charles guiding him, soon enough the targets beeped to signal and displayed a score of 45.

"Not bad Ichika, your marksmanship is pretty much average at best. It isn't a surprise as you specialize more in close-range," said Naruto.

"Yeah, you're right about that," said Ichika.

"So how was it?" asked Charles.

"I can't tell exactly, but the first thing that came across my mind was fast and the recoil from the shots took me by surprise a bit,"

"That's how it is with firearms especially shotguns and launchers which can send you flying backwards if you're not prepared for it," said Naruto.

"Yes, though IS is able to negate the recoil so it won't pose as a problem," said Charles.

"Might as well take a turn at the shooting practice even though it's different from my usual practice session," Naruto walked forward and held the red bracelet on his right hand "Let's Fly Odin!" it glowed brightly until it faded to reveal him in Odin "Equip Assault Rifle!" after tuning the gun to semi-auto, he took aim at the first target then quickly dashed to the left and went on one knee and fired the next target, he rolled to the right and shot once more before finishing up by activating the thrusters to launch him into the air and firing at the last target.

Charles and Ichika along with everyone else stood there stunned at the blonde's display of shooting at the targets while the girls were whispering about how cool he was.

"That was pretty something Naruto, how did you do that?" asked Ichika.

"Unlike the targets that stand still, you remember those drones I use on the weekends? I learnt that taking different postures can affect your accuracy as well as make it a bit harder for opponents to keep a beat on you especially when reloading your gun while on the move," said Naruto.

"Which brings me to ask, how many equalizers do you have?" asked Charles.

"At the moment I have seven equalizers with three extra empty slots, though I plan to install a few weapons into the remaining slots before the class league matches,"

Suddenly the students starting whispering amongst themselves although it didn't sound like they were talking about them.

"Hey look at that…"

"No way, that's the third generation German model,"

"I heard that it was still in a testing phase in their country,"

The trio turned to see Laura standing at the entrance of the docking bay in her IS which happens to be black in color with a large railgun attached to the right shoulder. Laura focused her sights on Ichika but not before glaring at Naruto who was watching her closely as well.

"Orimura Ichika, I can see that you have your own personal IS which makes things easier. Fight me," said Laura.

" _Never thought that I would be hearing those words_ ," thought Naruto as he recalled the challenge Sasuke gave before the fight on the hospital's roof.

"I don't want to; I have no reason to fight you," said Ichika.

"Even if you don't, I do," said Laura.

"It doesn't have to be now right? The class league match is soon, so let's do it then,"

"In that case…" Laura aimed the railgun at Ichika and shot at him, Naruto instantly moved to intercept the shot as he swapped his assault rifle for the beam guarder and deflected it into the air much to Laura's displeasure "Again you get in my way Uzumaki,"

"I get that a lot from the guys who don't like me," said Naruto again switching out the Beam Guarder for the dual handguns.

"Thanks Naruto!" said Ichika looking relieved.

Charles readied the assault rifle and summoned her submachine gun before taking aim at the German pilot "Suddenly challenging someone to a fight, Germans are really hot-tempered,"

"To think that the likes of a second generation French IS and a third generation Italian IS are standing in my way," said Laura.

"It's probably more mobile than your third generation model which still can't be mass produced,"

"And you haven't seen what my IS can really do but you're welcome to try," said Naruto.

Then the voice of an instructor spoke through the speakers of the training grounds "You students over there, what are you doing?"

"Hmph, let's end it here, shall we?" Laura's IS glowed for a moment before reverting into its closed form which is in the form of a garter belt on her left leg. She gave the trio one more look before turning around and leaving.

Then Houki, Ling and Cecelia ran up to them with looks of concern.

"What was that all about, Ichika?" asked Houki.

"What kind of argument did you have with her?" asked Ling.

"Let's say she dislikes him for something which was out of his control back when he was younger and leave it at that," said Naruto.

After the training session was over, Naruto and the others were the last to enter the locker room and change back into their uniforms.

"Yo Ichika, I'm done with the shower so you can have a go," said Naruto as he came out of said place while drying his hair with a towel.

"Ok Naruto," said Ichika as he began to take off his pilot suit.

"I'll be returning to the room first, Naruto-san," said Charles with the school jacket on.

"Okay Charles," said Naruto.

"Can't you take a shower with us? You're always like that," said Ichika.

"W-well i-it's not l-like I don't want to," said Charles nervously.

"Come on, don't be so cold," Ichika slung an arm around Charles' shoulder making him yelp and run away from them "Charles?"

*Bonk!*

"Ow!" Ichika nursed the bump on his head as he turned to see Naruto behind him with a fist raised "What was that for?!"

"Ever heard of personal space? Charles was probably raised differently which means that he isn't used to stuff like this yet. Try not to be so pushy next time, okay man?" said Naruto, getting a nod from Ichika.

Naruto and Kurami had left the classroom as the sun was setting and were making their way back to the dormitory, they were passing by a nearby when they heard voices which sounded familiar close by.

"Please answer me, instructor. Why are you in such a place?" a female voice spoke.

"Don't me repeat myself, I have something that I must fulfill. That's all there is to it," said another female voice.

They traced the voices until they saw Chifuyu and Laura standing at the edge of the lake, Naruto silently up onto the branch of a tree close to them as they listened into their conversation.

"You have some role in this far eastern place? Please instructor, teach me again in Germany," said Laura.

" **Sounds to me like she's trying to persuade Chifuyu-san to leave the IS academy and return with her to Germany. Seems rather selfish to me,"** said Kurami.

Laura continued to talk to Chifuyu "This place can't utilize even half of your capabilities,"

"Oh really?" asked Chifuyu.

"In the first place, the students in this school are humans not worthy of being taught by you. Having no sense of crisis, they mistake the IS as some kind of fashion statement. Having you share your time with people like that…"

"Leave it at that little girl," Chifuyu responded sternly much to Laura's surprise "After not seeing you for a while, you've become a little haughty. I feel sorry for you. You're acting like a chosen one at the age of 15,"

"I-I am," Laura started but Chifuyu interrupted her.

"Return to the dorm, I'm busy,"

Laura gritted her teeth before running off with Naruto watching with interest.

" _Pretty harsh of her, but then again, Laura was saying all those demeaning things,"_ Naruto muttered.

[I'm more focused on her previous statement, she identified the students in the school as humans which is pretty odd. It's almost as if she's saying that she isn't human] said Kushina.

"…I know that you're hiding up in that tree and eavesdropping, come down and show yourself," said Chifuyu with her back to Naruto much to his surprise.

" _Wow, she's good. To be able to detect my presence or maybe I need to train on my stealth more,"_ thought Naruto as he jumped off the tree branch to the ground below "How did you know I was there?"

"I've known all along, and I find it disrespectful for one to eavesdrop on another's conversation," said Chifuyu sternly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry about that, I tend to do that from time to time,"

" **Especially when you wanted to play hooky back at the ninja academy,"** said Kurami.

"I'd advise for you to not do that again," said Chifuyu.

"Sure thing, you' know Laura has been getting on Ichika's case for a while now ever since she showed up to the point of attacking him during practice, saying that she refuses to recognize him as your younger brother," said Naruto.

"I'm well aware of it, he should be able to deal with it on his own,"

"Maybe so, but he was blaming himself for what happened when he was kidnapped a few years ago," Chifuyu turned around to glare at him "Ichika told me about it when we figured that Laura was one of your students in Germany,"

"That boy needs to learn how to keep certain topics silent, and what happened back then shouldn't worry him," said Chifuyu.

"You may say that but Ichika really looks up to you which was why he felt so guilty about your forfeit in the 2nd Mondo Grosso, but I managed to get through to him that you cared for him more than anything else,"

"I appreciate you telling my brother, this also gives me the opportunity to ask about you being a ninja and also where you came from before being adopted by the Salvatores," said Chifuyu.

Naruto got a bit nervous about telling her where he came since he figured that she would try to find more about a place which currently doesn't exist.

[Don't worry Sochi-kun, Minato-kun knew that something like this would happen which was he created a cover story just in case someone tries to find out about you. listen carefully…] said Kushina as she transfers the information into his mind.

"Well the thing is that I used to be a ninja belonging Konoha, a village which is hidden deep in the forests of japan. I was among a team of three with a sensei to train as well as guide us through many missions along the way," said Naruto.

"You mean you were raised to be killers?" asked Chifuyu with a frown.

"It may seem that way, but we're mostly trained to defend our village from potential enemies. Then one of my teammates deserted the village in an attempt to acquire more power, so I was assigned to a team to find him and bring him back to the village. I managed to track him all the way to Italy and engaged in a fight, in the middle of the battle there was an explosion which knock us back and I lost sight him. And it was at that time I saw Fabio Tou-san and Sonia-chan being kidnapped and rescued them,"

"That sounds plausible, but why didn't you return to Konoha afterwards?"

"Upon leaving the village, we're to take a special medicine which wipes the memory of where the village is located should any of us ever be captured by the enemy so there's no way I can return and I don't even want to anyway as I've come to care for my new family," Naruto spoke with a warm smile at the end.

"Then I guess that your former sensei was the one to teach you that saying," said Chifuyu.

"That's right and because of it, I will never abandon my comrades no matter what,"

"But why wouldn't you at least attempt to locate your village? Surely your parents would be worried about you,"

"My parents are dead, they sacrificed their lives to protect me when I was a baby so it was the leader of the village that took care of me until I grew up to care for myself," Naruto smiled sadly, he noticed Kurami whine sadly and rubbed the back of her ears to cheer her up.

Chifuyu was taken back and felt a guilty for poking around his background "I apologize for asking such a question,"

"It's alright, you didn't know," said Naruto in a placating manner.

"So what is your reason for being here?"

"Like I said when I first arrived here, my dream is to be the strongest Sora no Kage and protect all those precious to me. No more no less,"

Chifuyu looked into his eyes for any signs of deception but found strength, sincerity and determination, and it won't hurt to say that his blue eyes make her feel like she's looking at the ocean.

"You 'know, you may act strict around us in school but you're actually nice too," said Naruto with a smile.

Chifuyu frowned a bit "Are you trying to flirt with me Uzumaki?"

"Huh, what do you mean by that? I was being honest about you being a nice person, I bet a beautiful smile from you could make any man who's lucky enough to see it feel like he's in cloud 9," Naruto smiled brightly.

Chifuyu's lips turned upwards by a centimeter before quickly disappearing "I suggest that you return to your dormitory as I don't show leniency on tardiness,"

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow Chifuyu-sensei," Naruto turned away and left with Chifuyu looking at him.

"That boy is so different and yet so alike to Ichika except that he's less dense from what I've seen, he's definitely worth observing, that Naruto Uzumaki. Must be why Maya is so taken with him," Chifuyu muttered to herself.

Meanwhile Naruto had arrived at the dormitory and was climbing up the stairs as he spoke to his mother through the link.

"Why did you have me tell her about me being a ninja Kaa-san?" asked Naruto.

[After meeting her, Minato-kun and I knew that she would suspect your sudden appearance and would attempt to gain information either from multiple sources or directly from you. hence telling her about your origins partially could convince her to trust you as well as prevent any potential problems] said Kushina.

" **She's right about that Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami.

"I hope you're right, I've really come to like this school. At least I won't get bored to death in the classroom," said Naruto.

He finally arrived at his room and unlocked the door before entering, though he couldn't see Charles anywhere.

"Charles I'm back, where are you?" asked Naruto as he looked around.

 **"Naruto-kun, I hear water running in the bathroom,"** said Kurami.

"He must be taking a bath…hang on, I remember using the last of the shower gel this morning before setting off for school. Let me go get the extra bottle and pass it over to him," Naruto walked over to the drawer a blue bottle of the shower gel and walked over to the door leading to the bathroom before knocking on it "Hey Charles, it's me. There's no shower gel in there so I brought another over,"

"Okay Naruto-san, I'm coming over to take it," Charles' voice sounded through the door, a moment later he heard him scream in surprise, making Naruto quickly open the door and rush inside to see what's happening.

"Charles, I heard you scream! Are you o…"

Naruto trailed off upon what he was currently seeing. Charles was on his knees on the bathroom floor naked, but that wasn't what shocked him. Charles' pectorals were rounded and covered with an arm while the other covers his groin which apparently is missing what is supposed to be there. Both boys silently stared at each other with neither mentioning a word.

Naruto was the first to speak "Uh…here's the shower gel…I'll be leaving so that you can finish with your shower," he placed the bottle on the floor and silently left the bathroom.

"O-okay…" said Charles.

Naruto closed the door and heard a click to signal that it has been locked from the inside.

…

…

…

" _WHAT THE HELL! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"_ thought Naruto hysterically.

" **It appears that Charles is actually a girl,"** said Kurami.

" _NO KIDDING, THIS IS DÉJÀ VU LIKE WHEN I FIRST MET HAKU EXCEPT THAT THE GENDER HAS BEEN REVERSED, AM I UNABLE TO DIFFER BETWEEN GENDER NOW?!"_ thought Naruto.

[Sochi calm down! Take a few deep breaths and calm down] said Kushina.

Naruto complied with what she said and took deep breaths for about two minutes "Okay…I'm calm now, thanks Kaa-san I really needed that,"

[It's no problem, Sochi-kun. Now our next course of action is to find out why 'Charles' dressed up as a male before doing anything else]

"Yeah let's do that,"

Naruto went to change from his uniform into a blue t-shirt and black shorts before sitting on his bed and waited patiently, he didn't have to wait too long as the door unlocked and 'Charles' came out of the bathroom dressed in a maroon and white sweatsuit. She quietly walked past him and sat on her bed with her back towards him.

"Um…Charles?" Naruto started to speak.

Charles was a bit startled but responded nonetheless "Y-yes?"

"Would you like some tea?"

"Y-yes…I would like some,"

"Okay then," Naruto went over to the kitchen and heated some water with the electric kettle before bringing two mugs, a pack of milk powder, and a packet of teabags, he waited until the kettle was done heating before pouring the hot water into the mugs with a teabag in each of them then added a spoon of milk powder to make some milky chai tea. He carried the mugs over to where 'Charles' was sitting and held out one of the mugs to her "Here you go,"

"Oh thank you," 'Charles' reached out to take the mug when her hand touched Naruto's, causing her to yelp in surprise and drop the mug. Naruto quickly crouched and caught the mug without spilling so much as a drop "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drop it!"

"It's alright, you were just surprised," Naruto give her the mug again and this time she held it much more firmly.

Both silently drank their hot beverages for a while, then Naruto finally popped the big question on 'Charles'

"So Charles, why did you pretend to be a boy?" asked Naruto with Kurami and Kushina listening in on the conversation.

"…It's because my family told me to do so," said 'Charles with a sad smile.

"By family, you mean the Dunois Company?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, it was a direct order from my father who is the president of the company,"

Naruto frowned at this "Your father told you to pretend to be a boy while in the academy?"

"Yes, the truth is that I'm not the daughter of my father's real wife," the eyes of those listening widened in shock "I had been living separately from my father, but two years ago, I was taken back which was when my mother passed away. They did some checkups on me and in the process discovered that I had a high IS aptitude. So while it was unofficial, I was made a test pilot. But still, I only met my father twice and the total time we spent talking to each other was less than an hour,"

Naruto clenched his fist in anger with his blue eyes turning red with pupils becoming slitted and a low growl could be heard faintly with the same thing going for Kushina and Kurami as they continued to listen.

"It was after that when the company went into a critical state,"

"What do you mean by that? I thought that the Dunois company would be fine as they're the third largest share of mass produced IS in the world?" Naruto asked, barely hiding the rage in his voice.

"That may be true, but the Raphael Revive is a second generation after all. Currently, IS development is concerned with third generation machines. The reason why Cecelia-san and Laura-san transferred in is probably due to the need to get trial data. The company also started on third generation machine development but it hasn't produced much at the rate they're going, the development rights will be revoked," said 'Charles'.

"So I'm guessing that your pretending to be a boy was so that you could acquire data from mine and Ichika's IS right?" asked Naruto.

"That's right, that person told me to steal data about you and Ichika-san for him," said Charles with a sad smile.

At that moment, Naruto wanted to rush over to where 'Charles' so called father is and beat him into a coma for such neglect. Being neglected by parents is no different from being an orphan.

"Somehow telling you the truth has made me feel as if a certain weight has been taken off my shoulders, I'm thanking for you listening to me and so sorry that I lied to you and Ichika-san all this time,"

[That bastard…he doesn't deserve to be called a parent!] Kushina shouted in rage.

 **"Truer words couldn't be said!"** said Kurami in affirmation.

Naruto was silent but then he spoke "It's not right…"

'Charles' looked at Naruto confusedly "Huh?"

"I said it's not right! That's not how a parent is supposed to treat their children even if they're illegitimate. A parent is meant to love and support their children not use them like tools!" said Naruto "Even though I was an orphan, I learnt that my mom and dad loved me so much that they willingly sacrificed their lives to protect me on the day that I was born. That's what makes them true parents unlike that man who doesn't deserve to be your father!"

'Charles looked at Naruto in wonder as he spoke, she could notice the joy when he spoke of his biological parents and felt a bit envious before looking down at the ground.

"But if they find out about me being a girl, then I'll be called back to my country. I don't know what will happen to me, at best I'll be sent to prison," said 'Charles'.

"If that's the case, stay here in the academy. I could keep silent about but should it be discovered, the Dunois company or your so-called father won't be able to do anything according to the rules of the IS special academy: 'This students within this academy, while enrolled do not belong to any organization, country or group," Naruto walked over to a drawer and held out the IS academy rulebook.

"But what about after I graduate from the academy?" asked 'Charles' worriedly.

Naruto walked over to where she is and placed his hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes "Then you can come and stay with me, I just bought a new home here in Japan recently and there's lots of room. If those bastards come to take you by force, then they'll have to get past me first. I can promise you this Charles, nothing or no one is ever going to hurt you again,"

'Charles' could see the resolution in his eyes and felt that he would really go through with his promise, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she got up and hugged him tightly while Naruto hugged her back.

[That's my Sochi! Minato-kun will be so proud of you!] said Kushina happily.

"Thank you Naruto, I was really scared that if anyone found out my secret I would be sent away. But I'm glad that you're the one to learn of it…I'm really glad," said 'Charles'.

"You're welcome, and I'll always be there to help no matter what," said Naruto with a smile and a pink tinge appearing of 'Charles' cheeks.

*Knock knock*

Naruto and 'Charles' turned towards the door in fear at who was knocking the door at the moment.

"Naruto-san, are you inside? I noticed that you hadn't had dinner yet so I came to check in on you," Cecelia's voice sounded from behind the door.

"Charles quick, get in the bed!" Naruto whispered, 'Charles' hurried to her bed and covered herself up with the blanket right as Cecelia opened the door and came inside to see Naruto sitting on the edge of 'Charles' bed while the person covered up in his blanket.

"What are you doing?" Cecelia asked curiously.

"Oh hi Cecelia-chan, I was just looking after Charles who is a bit sick at the moment," said Naruto with 'Charles' pretending to cough.

"Oh that's terrible, would you mind if I take away Naruto-kun?" asked Cecelia.

'Charles' pouted a bit before replying "Sure *cough cough*,"

"Coincidentally, I happened to not have dinner yet. Shall we have some together?" asked Cecelia.

"Oh okay," said Naruto _"Kurami-chan, could you stay behind and keep her company?"_

" **Okay Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami as she jumped onto 'Charles' bed.

"Now, shall we go?" Cecelia grabbed Naruto by the arm and started to drag him out of the room much to his surprise.

"Take it easy Cecelia-chan," said Naruto stumbling a bit.

[How aggressive of her…I like that] said Kushina.

" _Kaa-san, it's not like that!"_ thought Naruto blushing from his arm making contact with Cecelia's chest,

[It certainly does from what I'm seeing]

Along the way, they met Houki and Ichika who was in the same situation that Naruto is. Both nodded at each other in sympathy before being dragged to the cafeteria to eat dinner.

"I'm back," said Naruto as he returned to the room while carrying a tray of food.

"Ah Naruto-san, welcome back," said 'Charles'

"I figured that you didn't have dinner yet so I brought some from the cafeteria for you," Naruto placed the tray on the table for her.

'Charles' smiled as she approached the table, but froze upon seeing the contents.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Naruto.

"Oh it's nothing," 'Charles sat down and split the chopsticks, however she was holding them the wrong way.

"Are you unused to chopsticks?"

"Sort of, I'm still practicing how to use them though," 'Charles' attempted to pick up bits of food but they always fall from her grip before she gets to eat them.

"I could get a spoon from the kitchen to make it easier for you to eat," Naruto turned towards the kitchen.

"I-it's okay, really. You don't need to bother yourself," said 'Charles'.

"I don't mind Charles, you should depend on others. Sometimes being courteous makes you miss out on a lot of things,"

Charles looked down at the ground and started to fidget a bit "T-then…ummmm…could you feed me since I can't use the chopsticks well?"

Naruto took a step back with a blush with Kurami pouting with jealously and Kushina squealing with glee.

"H-huh?" Naruto stammered out.

"Well you said I could depend on others, I want to depend on you…can't I?" 'Charles' looked at Naruto with the eyes of an abandoned puppy who is poking her head out from a cardboard box in the middle of a rain.

 _"Those eyes…I can't resist it!"_ thought Naruto before giving in "Okay Charles, I'll feed you," he took the chopsticks from 'Charles' before picking up a piece of fish "Here you go…say ahhhh,"

"Ahhhh…" 'Charles' opened her mouth and ate the fish while looking a bit shy.

"I don't if I should be thinking this, but she's so cute when she eats like that," thought Naruto.

[Minato-kun used to feed me just like that whenever we have a picnic on top of the Hokage Mountain] said Kushina dreamily.

" **It's not fair, I want to be fed like that too,"** Kurami grumbled to herself.

"Is it good?" asked Naruto.

'Charles nodded happily "It's delicious,"

"That's good, so what's next?"

"A bit of rice,"

"Okay, coming right up," Naruto picked up a bit of rice and fed it to her as well.

" _I truly glad that was you that found out,"_ thought 'Charles' happily, neither of them noticed Naruto's S-Touch blinking to notify that a message has arrived in his mailbox.

Elsewhere, a lone figure stands in the middle of the IS training ground. We take closer look to see that it was none other than Laura Bodewig as she looked up to the moon.

"Instructor…your unrivaled absolute strength, that is my goal and my reason to exist," she reached for her eyepatch and untied it to reveal a glowing yellow left eye "Orimura Ichika…he's the instigator that led to her being blemished. He will be eliminated, no matter the method to be used…but I must destroy that annoying thorn Naruto Uzumaki,"

With dark thoughts in her mind, Laura turned around to leave the training ground in silence.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, It appears that Ichika's IS is a picky one since it won't use any other weapon aside from the sword and Naruto has some extra slots for weapons too. What's the deal with Laura wanting to take Ichika down so badly and Naruto isn't going to stay back and just watch. Looks like Charles was actually a girl in disguise but Naruto is willing to help her out along with Kushina and Kurami, and I wonder what message that Naruto has received. Stay tuned to find out in the next chapter so read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	9. An Unwanted Training Session

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 8: An Unwanted Training Session**

It's a couple of weeks before the class league matches and everyone is getting excited as each day passes by, many competitors possessing both personal IS or utilizing the ones provided by the academy were taking every chance they could get to use the arenas for practice.

At the moment, Naruto was currently walking down the aisle and focusing on his S-Touch as he fiddled with the interface with Kurami sitting on his shoulder and looking at the screen too.

" _I also forgot to adjust the new settings to Odin for the upcoming matches, thanks for the reminder Kaa-san,"_ thought Naruto.

[It's no problem at all Sochi-kun, besides you need me at top condition of we're aiming to win this tournament] said Kushina.

" _ **And I hope that no one else wins, that rumor of the winner getting a chance to go out with either Ichika-san or Naru-kun really irks me,**_ " thought Kurami.

" _And there's the message from Fabio-tousan that the second IS is complete and is already on its way to the academy,"_ said Naruto.

[Then that means Minato-kun will be coming soon, I really missed him!] Kushina was ecstatic at the news.

" _Me too, Tou-san could help me in learning about the new feature on the IS which his core is in,"_

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned to the voice calling out his name and smiled upon seeing that it was Nohotoke who was currently running towards him while waving a sleeved hand.

"Ah Nohohon-chan, what's up?" smiled Naruto as Kurami leapt from his shoulder and into the girl's arms before nuzzling her.

"I saw and you and Kurami-chan walking down the hallway and thought to say hi, are you going to the arena for IS practice?" asked Nohotoke while rubbing the back of Kurami's ears, making her purr in bliss.

"Pretty much, plus I'm adjusting the data on Odin for better performance and making sure that there aren't any errors that would mess things up," Naruto replied while still typing on the S-Touch.

"So have you found a partner for the tournament yet?" asked Nohotoke.

Naruto paused a bit and looked thoughtful for a moment "Not yet Nohohon-chan, but I will soon before the other girls hound on me,"

Nohotoke giggled at the joke "Well, I'll be cheering for you!"

Naruto gave her a foxy grin "Thanks Nohohon-chan,"

Thing is that he had been over who he should partner up with for a while now as there are many candidates that fit the slot. Cecelia could serve as cover fire for Naruto while he launches blitz attacks but 'Charles' could the same as well, Ling could act as a tag partner with both specializing mostly in close-range and mid-range attacks to lay on the pressure. He choose not to ask Houki as he knows full well that she would prefer to partner up with Ichika, and Laura is completely out of the question due to her animosity with him and Ichika.

" **Still can't make up your mind Naru-kun?"** asked Kurami.

" _Pretty much, Kurami-chan. All of the girls hold infinite possibilities and it's kinda hard to choose one of them,"_ thought Naruto.

[I agree with Naruto-kun, those girls certainly have their specialties.] said Kushina.

" _Yeah, maybe after practice then I'll go and asked them,"_ said Naruto.

" _ **It's without a doubt that the first one whom you ask will definitely say yes,"**_ thought Kurami with a pout.

Meanwhile in the IS arena, Ling was in her pilot suit walking towards the center of the field as she was about to activate her Shenlong in order to do a few practice runs before the tournament.

"Ara? You're pretty early, I thought I would be the first to get here,"

Ling turned around to see Cecelia walking towards her in her pilot suit as well.

"I'm about to train in preparation for the tournament," said Ling.

"Well I have the same intention, after all everyone wants to see the elites at work," said Cecelia, both glared at each other as they know the true reason why.

"Maybe now would be a good time to decide who's the stronger one here," said Ling.

"Fine by me, we'll settle who is more elegant and more powerful,"

"True, but it's without saying that I'm the stronger one here,"

Cecelia simply flicked her hair "It appears that the saying weak dogs bark the loudest is true,"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" said Ling angrily.

"What I meant is that you try to make yourself appear bigger and stronger when the truth is that you aren't strong at all,"

This really angered Ling "I'm going to make you eat those words,"

Ling activated her IS Shenlong from her bracelet which was its closed form and brandished her sword, Cecelia did the same as she brought her Blue Tears online and equipped herself with the sniper rifle. Then both charged at each other to begin the fight.

*BOOOM!*\

Suddenly a white projectile flew in between them and smashed into the wall of the arena much to their surprise, both turned to the side to Laura hovering in air in her black IS with a smirk on her face as the muzzle of her railgun was releasing smoke.

"Laura Bodewig…" Cecelia muttered the name with a frown.

"What are you thinking, shooting us like that? You've got some nerve!" shouted Ling angrily.

Laura glanced from one girl to the other and let out a scoff "Shenlong from china and Blue Tears from England…both looked better on paper,"

"What? Are you looking for a fight? It's pretty sad that you came all the way from Germany only to get beaten. Are you a masochist?" Ling taunted.

"Now now Ling-san, she doesn't understand the language we speak so it would be bully if we continue to tease her.

However Laura simply ignored them "It's hard to believe that girls like you also possess a third generation units like me. Countries known for their population and for their history must severely lack in talent,"

Laura and Cecelia truly glared at Laura in rage at her insult of their countries.

"Seems to me like you really want you unit to be turned into scrap!" said Ling angrily.

"It appears so," Cecelia was in agreement by cocking her sniper rifle.

"Then why don't you two come attack me at the same time? I won't lose to bitches who fight over a breeding dog," said Laura, angering them more and more.

"What did you say?! I think I heard 'Please punch me as much as you like!' from here!" said Ling.

"Don't you dare insult the person who's not even here, or I'll make sure that you'll be unable to speak ever again!" said Cecelia.

"Let's get started already," Laura raised a hand and beckoned them to come.

"You don't have to say it twice!" both yelled at the same time as they charged at Laura with the intent to hurt her badly.

"Yo Ichika, Charles!" said persons looked behind to see Naruto and Nohotoke approaching them "What are you guys up to?"

"Ah Naruto-san, Nohotoke-san. Ichika said that he was going to practice at the arena today," said 'Charles'.

"Yeah, we still have a few more weeks until the tournament and I want to be ready if I'm to go up against the other IS users like you Naruto," said Ichika.

"A sound reason," said Naruto.

Then a group came running by them and they heard them say something rather interesting.

"I heard three national candidate reps are having a mock battle in the third arena!" said one of the girls.

The group looked at each other, having got an idea of who exactly the national candidates are then they began to run towards the arena to see what was going on. Soon they arrived at the stands and looked into the field only to be shocked upon seeing Ling and Cecelia on the ground and Laura hovered overhead.

"It's Ling-san and Alcott-san," said 'Charles'.

"And Laura Bodewig," said Houki who had just arrived upon hearing the rumors.

Ling got back to her feet with a frown on her face "Take this!" she charged up one of her cannons and fired a shot at Laura.

Laura scoffed "An attack like that is useless against Schwarzer Regen's electric barrier!" she raised a hand to project a translucent barrier which stopped the incoming projectile completely much to the shock of everyone watching especially Ling.

"She stopped the Impact Cannon!" said Ichika looking surprised while Naruto's eyes narrowed in attention.

"It's AIC," said 'Charles'

"That's why she didn't consider even dodging the Impact Cannon," said Houki.

Ichika was confused "AIC? What's that?"

"It's Schwarzer Regen's third generation weapon: Active Inertia Canceller," said 'Charles'.

"It's also known as Inertial Arrest Ability," Houki added in.

"Merely seeing it in action gives me an idea of what it does," said Ichika.

" _Same here, it has similarities to the Hyuuga clan's Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation only that it negates motion based projectiles instead of parrying them,"_ thought Naruto.

[You'll need to make a plan for it when the time comes for you to battle her] said Kushina.

Ling continued to launch shot after shot from her Impact Cannons in the air while Laura was skated along the ground the ground to evade the shots before using her AIC to block the rest much to Ling's frustration.

"Darn it, none of my equipment have much off an effect on her!" said Ling.

Suddenly several compartments on Laura's IS opened up and four purple wires with golden daggers connected at the end shot out before racing towards Ling, she took evasive actions to avoid them but one of the wires wrapped around her leg and snatched her in the air.

"It's laughable to think that machine is a third generation model of its current level," said Laura with a smirk.

Then she took to the air as the bits from Cecelia's Blue Tears swooped in from above while firing a volley of lasers at her. Cecelia didn't let up as she fired a pair of homing missiles from the pods attached to her IS. Laura took evasive action to dodge the missiles before quickly using the AIC to stop the bits which were approaching her in a pincer formation.

Cecelia flew above Laura and aimed with her sniper rifle "You can't move from there!"

"Neither can you," Laura aimed her railgun at Cecelia as both fired at the same time, resulting in an explosion. Laura grabbed a still active wire and pulled on it to swing a captured Ling around to slam into Cecelia which sent them both crashing into the ground below.

"Cecelia-chan! Ling-chan!" Naruto cried out in worry with the others feeling the same way.

Laura descended towards them with a haughty look on her face, Ling struggled to get up before charging up her Impact Cannons to fire at her.

"It's naïve of you use a time-consuming weapon in a situation like this," Laura aimed her railgun and fired it to destroy one of the cannons, but Cecelia capitalized on this by firing a missile at close-range to cause an explosion. Both girls moved away from the smoke in order to catch a breath from that stunt.

"A missile at close-range…that's very reckless," said Ling.

"You can save your complaints for later, but I'm sure damage was inflicted with this," said Cecelia.

However the smoke cleared to reveal Laura who was hovering in the air with her arms and there wasn't even a scratch on her IS.

"She must have used the AIC at the last minute to block the missile attack," said Naruto with a frown.

Laura looked unimpressed "Is that all you got, then it's my turn," she launched the wires at Ling and Cecelia, wrapping around their necks before pulling them towards her. Laura drew close to them and proceeded to punch and kick them while they could barely put up any sort of defense against her brutal attacks.

[Naruto-sama, I'm detecting the shield energy of both IS at a critically low energy level] said LUNA.

"That's horrible! At this rate, their shield energy won't last!" said 'Charles' worriedly.

"If the damage accumulates and the IS forcibly shuts down, their lives would be endangered!" said Houki.

"Laura, stop it!" Ichika shouted out.

"Ichika get out of the way!" he turned around and was shocked to see Naruto running towards the barrier with a blue spinning ball despite not being equipped with his IS

"How's he able to do that? I thought that he should be in his IS in order to do that and I don't see him using the partial deployment either," thought Ichika.

Naruto rammed the sphere into the barrier and watched in surprise as cracks appeared before shattered into pieces before Naruto jumped through the hole and dashed towards the combatants.

"Naruto!" 'Charles' called out to him.

"Let's Fly Odin!" Naruto raised the bracelet as it activated with a bright glow before it dimmed to reveal him in his IS Odin as he charged.

[Sochi-kun you should be more careful! You almost exposed yourself by using your chakra for the Rasengan!] said Kushina.

" _Sorry Kaa-san but I need to save Ling-chan and Cecelia-chan!"_ thought Naruto.

[I understand, now hurry!]

 **Music Start: Kingdom Hearts 2 OST; The 13** **th** **Struggle**

"Got it," Naruto focused and spoke through his mind _"Equip Tool Pack!"_ then a pair of backpack-like objects with a white circle and a large black kanji for 'Storage' in the middle appeared floating on both sides, he hovered a hand over the kanjis and channeled chakra into it as a four-pronged sharpened metal star with an open circle in the center appeared from each pack. Naruto grabbed the shuriken and channeled wind chakra into them, coating them in a blue aura before throwing them. The bladed projectiles spun through the air and sliced through the wires like thread for Ling and Cecelia to collapse to the ground with there is reverting to their closed form much to Laura's shock

"Substitute Single Katana!" the packs disappeared before a katana appeared in Naruto's as he unleashed a vertical slash, however Laura used her AIC to freeze him in motion as he struggled against the field.

"You may have succeeded in the interference but charging straight in is nothing short of foolhardy, now you shall perish!" said Laura before aiming the railgun at him ready to fire.

"I'm not as foolish as you think," said Naruto with a smirk.

Before Laura could question him, a hail of bullets came in from above pelting her while Naruto backed away. It was 'Charles' in her IS as she swooped in from above while using her assault rifle Vent.

"Naruto step away!" said 'Charles'

"Got it!" Naruto turned around and quickly made his way towards Ling and Cecelia after putting away the katana "You girls hang on,"

"Naruto-san?" Cecelia murmured despite the pain.

Naruto picked them up each in arm and quickly took off, Laura managed to escape 'Charles' range of fire before turning her attention towards Naruto who moving away from the fight to get the girls to safety.

"Like I'm going to let them get away from me," she aimed the railgun with a reticle slowly getting a lock-on him.

[Sochi-kun, Laura has targeted you!] said Kushina.

"Then it's time to use move, **Ignition Boost: Sonic Flicker!** " Odin was coated in a white aura as Naruto started moving around in a zigzag pattern all the while leaving behind clones much to Laura's confusion as the target system was unable to pick up its target and every time she shoots at one, it simply disappears which irritates her and then she had to avoid the gunfire from 'Charles'.

"What, how's that possible?!" said Laura.

Elsewhere, Naruto had propped the girls up against the wall of the arena and was checking up on them to make sure that they were okay from the earlier fight.

"Are you girls okay?" Naruto looked at them worriedly.

"Naruto, we'll be fine," said Ling.

"That was disgraceful of us," said Cecelia.

"I'm just glad that both of you are okay, I was really worried about you girls," said Naruto looking relieved.

" _He was worried about us, that's so sweet of him,"_ thought the girls happily.

[Sochi-kun, 'Charles' is in trouble!] Kushina called out to him.

Naruto turned around to see that Laura had fired one of her wires which was wound around 'Charles' arm as she struggled to avoid being pulled towards Laura and was shooting with a machinegun but to no effect as the AIC were negating them.

"Hmph, I'll show you what is gained by the difference in generation," then Laura created a saber made out of purple energy and was about to attack 'Charles'.

"I don't think so!" Naruto grabbed the katana before throwing across the field towards Laura from the side, she saw the blade flying at her and quickly backed away for it to slice through the wire and freeing 'Charles' in the process _"That's strange, why didn't she stop the katana with the AIC but chose to dodge it?"_

[There must be some sort of limit to the ability] said Kushina.

"We'll think on it later, substitute Assault Rifle!" Naruto swapped out the katana for the selected firearm as he skated across the ground towards Laura. Laura launched the three remain wires at Naruto in order to restrain him **"Attack Function: Laser Cutter!"** a blue beam of light shot out of the muzzle before he swung it to slash the wires apart.

Laura growled in anger and aimed the railgun before firing, Naruto rolled to the side and returned fire but it was blocked by the AIC, then he decided to get in close and continued to shoot as Laura darted left and right to avoid the shots and formed a blade out of purple energy from her hand which she used to slash at him.

"Substitute Single Semi-Automatic!" Naruto switched out the rifle for the handgun, he darted to the side to avoid the slash and grabbed her by the wrist before shooting at her. Laura turned her body in 180 degrees to evade the bullets before reaching out to grab the gun, Naruto quickly reacted by flinging the handgun high into the air before grabbing Laura's hand with his then pulled along with a spin and threw her away before stretching an arm out for the gun to fall into his hand.

"You have truly proven yourself to be a thorn in my side Uzumaki," Laura glared Naruto.

"If you keep attacking the people close to me, then you better expect me to show up to stop you," Naruto glared back at her.

"Then I might as well make you disappear permanently!" Laura formed another beam saber and got ready to charge at Naruto once more.

"That's enough from the three of you!"

 **Music End**

Everyone turned towards the voice to see Chifuyu standing there with a deep frown and a large katana in hand.

"Instructor!" Laura was surprised.

[She's quite strong to be able to hold a weapon created for an IS] said Kushina.

"Yare yare, this is why dealing with kids is stressful," said Chifuyu as she approached them "Having a mock battle is a good method of practice, but I cannot ignore something that causes the destruction of a barrier," she glanced at Naruto who stared back at her, fully aware of what she's talking about but didn't regret it "I will have you all settle this fight in the Intra-Class Tournament,"

"If that is what you wish," said Laura before deactivating her IS and reverting to its closed form.

"Uzumaki, Dunois, you don't have a problem with that do you?" asked Chifuyu.

"None at all," said Naruto deactivating his IS as well followed by 'Charles'.

"I'm fine with that too," said 'Charles'.

"There I hereby ban all battles until the Intra-Class Tournament, you're dismissed!" said Chifuyu.

Naruto nodded in affirmation before turning to carry Ling and Cecelia to the infirmary with help from Ichika. Then after classes, Naruto was making his way back to the infirmary when he heard someone calling his name.

"Naruto-kun!" He looked behind to see Maya running towards him.

"Ah Maya-sensei, what is it?" asked Naruto with a smile.

"I came to tell you that your second IS has just arrived from the Stellare enterprise and is at the maintenance area right now," said Maya.

Hearing that really brightened up Naruto's day as he happily spoke up "Really, thank you for telling me Maya-sensei! Would you like to come along and see it with me?"

Maya blushed a bit from seeing him smile at her like that "Um s-sure, I-I would like to come with you,"

Without thinking, Naruto grabbed Maya by the hand, making her face turn red as he led her towards where the maintenance while barely able to even squeak a word. Soon they arrived at their destination and were currently standing before the same metal door. The door slowly opened up with a heavy sound, and behind it laid an open armor in the same position like when he received Odin.

" _It's about time that you got here, Tou-san,"_ thought Naruto with a warm smile before he climbed into the armor before it proceeded to fit itself onto his body while Maya watched in awe as the IS finally completed its fitting and stood before.

" _So this is Naruto-kun's second IS, I wonder what capabilities it possesses?"_ thought Maya.

* * *

Afterwards, Naruto made his way over to the infirmary where he saw that Ichika and 'Charles' who had Kurami accompanying her are already there and were currently having a chat with Ling and Cecelia.

"Sorry I'm late, I had a few things to do," Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

" **I'm guessing that you went to require the other IS?"** said Kurami.

[It's good to see you too Kurami-san] said Minato.

" **You too, Minato-san,"**

Are you girls okay?" asked Naruto.

"You didn't have to save us like that," said Ling.

"If we have continued, we would have won," said Cecelia.

"You may say that, but you would have been seriously hurt had Laura continued to attack you two like, and there's no way I was going to allow that to happen," Naruto looked at the girls, making them look away as they knew how right he was.

"You two are trying to act tough," said 'Charles' with a knowing smile with Cecelia and Ling becoming nervous.

" **They definitely are,"** said Kurami.

[Ditto] said Kushina.

"Act tough?" Ichika looked confused.

'Charles' continued to speak "You're just embarrassed because of a poor showing in front of a person you like, right?"

"I-I-I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ling stammered out loud.

"I-I'm not trying to act tough at all!" said Cecelia.

"In that case, how did you two end up in a battle with Laura?" asked Ichika.

At that question, the girls suddenly found their surrounding s interesting to look at except Naruto and Ichika.

"Well…" Ling didn't know what else to say.

"How should I put it…because she insulted a woman's pride," said Cecelia.

[I bet that's not the only reason ] said Kushina in a singsong tone with Kurami smirking.

[Ahhhh, I see what's going on here] said Minato amusedly.

'Charles' suddenly spoke up in realization "Oh did she speak badly of Naruto-" Ling and Cecelia quickly jumped out of their beds and clamped their hands on 'Charles' mouth to prevent her from saying anything more much to Naruto and Ichika's confusion.

"You seriously have a big mouth, you know that?!" said Ling.

"Th-that's right! She's right!" said Cecelia.

"You girls shouldn't be moving around like that, you're hurt enough as it is," said Naruto in a scolding tone.

"S-sorry," said the girls.

Suddenly they heard a low rumble which grew louder before the door burst open and a mob of girls came rushing inside much to their surprise, Naruto noticed them holding sheets of paper and realized their reason for coming here.

"Wh-what's going on?!" asked Ichika confusedly.

"What is it everyone?" asked 'Charles".

"This!" the girls held out the sheets of paper which appear to be forms of some sorts.

'Charles' took one of them and read it out loud "In the upcoming Intra-class tournament, to stage more realistic battles, you're required to participate in pairs. Those who do not choose their own pairs will be assigned a partner through a lottery," Then the girls proceeded to chatter.

"Please partner up with me Orimura-kun!" said one of the girls.

"Partner with Dunois-kun!" said another.

"Please be my partner Uzumaki-kun!" said a third.

[Wow, Jiraiya-sensei would have felt like he was in cloud nine if he were in your place Naruto] said Minato.

" _Yeah, and now I know how Sasuke feels whenever the girls swarmed around him back in the academy,"_ thought Naruto.

"Er…I'm sorry but I'm partnering up with Charles, so please forgive me!" said Ichika.

Then the girls turned their attention towards Naruto who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry, but I've yet to decide whom to choose,"

The girls were a bit disappointed but understood nonetheless as they turned and left the infirmary.

"Ichika, I want you to partner up with me!" said Ling.

"Naruto-san, I'll be your partner! We've practiced a lot together so that makes us compatible with each other," said Cecelia.

"Wait a minute! I trained with Naruto too, so the same could be said for us!" said Ling.

"I thought you were going to be Ichika-san's partner?"

"W-well that is that and this is this,"

"I don't think so," everyone turned to see Maya standing before them with a tablet in hand "The damage to your respective IS units are over level C, I can't permit your participation in the tournament," Ling and Cecelia were flabbergasted by the news and protested as such.

"What?! But I can fight!" said Ling.

"I cannot accept that either!" said Cecelia.

"No means no," said Maya rather sternly "They need to be fully repaired, or else fatal flaws can surface later,"

Both girls were disappointed at not being able to battle, that was when Naruto spoke up.

"I have an idea, what if either of them were to pilot Odin? Would they be allowed to participate?" asked Naruto. Everyone looked at him in shock of such a suggestion.

"Well it's possible, but I don't know if your IS would be able to be piloted by anyone else," said Maya doubtfully.

"Are you sure about this Naruto? You wouldn't be able to participate in the Intra-Class tournament," said Ling.

"That would have been the case if my dad didn't send in my other personal IS unit in time before the tournament," Naruto pulled back his right sleeve to reveal a yellow bracelet on his wrist much to their surprise.

"You have another personal IS unit?! Why didn't you tell us before?!" said Cecelia.

"Because it didn't come across my mind plus it wasn't ready by then," said Naruto.

"But are you sure it can work? Personal IS units can truly function when piloted by their owners," said 'Charles'.

"True, but Odin is capable of functioning to those I give permission to use," said Naruto taking off the red bracelet and holding it out for them to see.

[I'm willing to work with either girls since I like them personally, so make your choice. Besides it would be like old times fighting alongside Minato-kun] said Kushina happily.

"In that case, the question would be whom you want as your partner, Naruto-kun?" asked Maya.

Naruto looked at Cecelia and Ling as they stood there each hoping to be the one whom he chooses to be his partner for the tournament as well as wanting to settle the score with Laura too.

"I've decided, the one who is going to be my partner is…" Naruto began.

* * *

It was nighttime, Naruto and 'Charles' were back in their dorm room and were changing from their uniform into their nightclothes.

"Um Naruto, I hope you're okay that I'm partnering up with Ichika, right?" asked 'Charles'.

"It's no problem at all, I was a bit indecisive about whether to choose you, Ling and Cecelia which was until the fiasco with Laura, but I'm okay nonetheless. I'm actually looking forward to battling you and Ichika," said Naruto assuredly.

"Oh okay, I feel the same way now that you mention it,"

"Ya know, you don't need to act like a boy when you're alone with me," said Naruto.

"I know but I was drilled to talk and act like a boy before coming here so my cover would be maintained, I don't think I can switch back that easily,"

Naruto quietly growled at being reminded of why she was being sent to the academy and continued to suppress the desire to storm the place with an army of shadow clones and beat her father to a pulp just like he did to Mizuki on the night when he was tricked to steal the Forbidden Scroll.

[I would definitely agree with that man like that has no worth to be called a father] said Minato with a frown, Kushina had told him what was going on and boy was he enraged, but immensely proud of Naruto for stepping up to protect her.

"But if it bothers you, I'll try to talk like a girl when it's just us," said 'Charles'.

"You shouldn't force yourself, it wouldn't feel right with me. Besides, no matter how you act. I kinda find it cute in a unique way," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

"C-c-c-cute m-m-me? You're not lying?" 'Charles' stammered as her face went red and her heart was beating fast.

"Of course not, I'm being really honest here,"

[What a charmer, just like when you complimented my hair, Minato-kun] said Kushina, in the mindscape, Minato looked away with a blush on his cheeks.

"Okay, then I guess I'll stick with it," said 'Charles' happily.

"That's nice, now I'll be going to change in the bathroom then," Naruto turned to walk away with his sleepwear.

"No, you don't have to. I feel bad for you. Besides…I'm okay if we change together," said 'Charles' shyly.

Now it's Naruto's turn to blush at what she said "I'm not sure that I'm okay with that, I don't want to be seen as a pervert as I hate them, so I'm going to change,"

" **I'm surprised that all this time you spent with Jiraiya, you didn't end up becoming one,"** said Kurami with a smirk.

" _And to be beaten up by the girls? No thanks because I'm not a masochist,"_ thought Naruto as he entered the bathroom and closed the door.

" _ **Could have fooled me with how Sakura always hits you, whether or not you did something wrong,"**_ thought Kurami with anger at the pinkette for being a pathetic fangirl and hitting Naruto for shallow reasons.

[And he's lucky otherwise I would have 'fixed' that pervert with a shard of glass] said Kushina menacingly.

'Charles' puffed her cheeks a bit "And I said I was okay with it…Naruto no baka,"

Later on, both were laying on their beds with Naruto and Kurami fast asleep though 'Charles' was yet to sleep as she was currently sitting on the bed and looking at Naruto sleep peacefully. She thought back on when her secret was found out and yet Naruto rather chose to help her instead of reporting her to the officials like anyone else would have.

" _This is the first time that I felt wanted by someone,"_ she silently walked over to Naruto's bed before leaning over and kissing him on the cheek with a soft smile on her face "Goodnight…Naruto-kun, and thank you for everything," then she went back to bed and was soon asleep. Kurami opened an eyelid to look at 'Charles' and smiled softly before returning to sleep.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Ling and Cecelia got attacked by Laura and almost got seriously wounded thanks to the intervention from Naruto and 'Charles' however their IS were too damaged to be allowed participation. Naruto offers one of them access to Odin as well as being his partner since his second IS has arrived which is going to make for interesting matches in the forthcoming chapter.**

 **Now for those who would be questioning why Naruto wasn't partnered up with 'Charles', I originally intended for it but then I got the idea that having either Ling or Cecelia partner up with Naruto while using his IS could make things interesting as well as match against Ichika and 'Charles' being a bonus. So be sure to stay tuned and find out what happens in the next chapter so read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	10. Clash of Same Paths but Differing Ideals

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 9: A Clash of Similar Paths but Differing Ideals**

It was the night before tomorrow when in the Intra-Class Tournament will be taking place, Naruto and his chosen partner had been very hard for the forthcoming matches and the inevitable battle against Laura Bodewig and her partner.

Naruto helped his partner into getting used to the machinations of Odin and attuning her to the weapons in its arsenal, he too was familiarizing himself with his second IS and Minato was tutoring him on the features installed especially the Multi Gimmick Sack or M.G.S for short. At the moment, Naruto was currently sitting at the desk with a USB cord connecting from the yellow bracelet on his right wrist to the computer which he was currently using to input data into the IS for some final tune-up while 'Charles' being fast asleep on her bed.

"…aaaaannnd done, the software is up to date and all systems are green with no bugs. The speed of the M.G.S is properly adjusted," Naruto stretched his arms out with a yawn before disconnecting the cord and shutting down the computer.

[Fine work Son, now get some rest for the tournament tomorrow, it's already late] said Minato.

" _Sure thing, Tou-san,"_ Naruto got up and was about to head for his bed when the S-Touch which was set to silent to avoid waking 'Charles' was vibrating to alert of a call "A phone call at this time of the night?" Naruto picked it up and pressed the receive button as he held it to his ear "Hello?"

"Hi hi! foxy-kun!" a familiar chipper female voice responded to him.

"That voice…is that you Tabane?"

"Mou, I thought I told you that I prefer for you to call me Usagi-chan," he could that she was pouting.

"Sorry about that, Tabane-chan. It's been a while since we last spoke so I kinda forgot about that,"

[So you really did speak to the creator of IS, she's an odd one from what I'm hearing] said Minato.

"Nee nee, I heard that you're taking part in the Intra-Class Tournament so I called to tell you that I'll be cheering for you," said Tabane cheerfully.

"That's really nice of you," Naruto walked to the balcony and closed the sliding door behind him.

"Of course, you're really cute and strong," Naruto blushed hard at her compliment and could barely say anything "Hehehe, I bet the blush is covering those cute whisker marks of yours. I'm definitely going to rub them a lot when I come to see you foxy-kun,"

"I-I-I won't purr!" Naruto stuttered.

[Son, you just exposed yourself] Minato spoke with pity.

"Oh-ho? By saying won't means you _do_ purr, makes me want to come a lot sooner. Nighty-night foxy-kun!" then the line disconnected and yet Naruto stood there with his jaws dropped.

" _Oh man, first I have to worry about the tournament and now I have to be on guard with Tabane? Why me?"_ Naruto held his head in his hands in dismay.

[Don't let it bother you, for now we should focus on the forthcoming matches and then figure out how to put up with a potential girlfriend's teasing]

"… _Tou-san, you did not just talk about a girlfriend for me did you?"_ Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

[Whatever you mean by that son?] Minato asked the question innocently.

" _Tou-san!"_ Naruto groaned as his father's laughter echoed in his mind before going to bed and went to sleep.

The day has finally come and everyone had gathered at the stadium in anticipation for the matches especially with the ones having pilots using their Personal IS machines which are of the Third Generation. High in the air was the spherical device with a propeller focusing its camera on the area ready to record the battles.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Ichika and 'Charles' were in the locker room putting on their pilot suits and turned to look at the screen which was currently displaying the dignitaries who were seated at the VIP area of the stadium.

"Wow, this is pretty amazing," said Ichika.

"The scouts are here to see the seniors, while others are here to see the juniors to evaluate their improvements over the past year," said 'Charles'

"In other words, they want to see what exactly we can do in our IS," said Naruto.

"I get it now," said Ichika "I wonder whom Houki is paired up with? They mentioned something about a lottery if you can't find a partner,"

"I can tell you've been thinking about a match against Laura Bodewig, haven't you?" asked 'Charles'.

"Oh, yeah," Ichika replied sheepishly.

"Well you shouldn't let your emotions affect you, Bodewig isn't the only one we should focus on,"

Naruto slung an arm around Ichika's neck with a smirk "He's right, ya know? You've got my partner and I to go through first before facing her,"

"Yeah I know, and we won't hold back," Ichika grinned with Naruto doing the same.

"Heh, neither will we,"

"Naruto-san, Ichika-san. The matchups are up," 'Charles' pointed at the screen. The trio looked up at the screen and were shocked upon seeing who was paired up with Laura.

"…Houki is her partner?!" Ichika was stunned.

[Hmmm, a rather interesting pairing. No one would have even thought of it] said Minato musingly.

"Wow, I definitely didn't see this coming," Naruto muttered "Well, looks like my match is up first. So I better go and suit up,"

"Good luck, Naruto-san," said 'Charles' with a smile.

Naruto turned to give a thumbs up before making his way towards the maintenance room, upon arriving there, he saw that his partner was already there and must have been waiting for a bit.

"Are you ready for this…Ling?" that's right, the person whom Naruto chose as his partner for the Intra-Class Tournament was none other than Ling. It was tough choosing between her and Cecelia much to the latter's disappointment though he promised to make it up to her afterwards to Kushina's approval. Afterwards, Naruto took to training Ling on how to use the weapons on Odin which she's most attuned with especially the firearms since her Shenlong's long range weapons were mostly hands-free until her accuracy were up to par at least.

Ling turned to face Naruto with the red bracelet visible on her left wrist "As ready as I'll ever be,"

"Alright then, let's suit up," Ling nodded in affirmation as she raised her hand and the bracelet glowed brightly and engulfed her body before fading to reveal her in Odin. Naruto also did the same with his yellow bracelet as he called out "Accel Dot-Phasor!" he was engulfed in a bright light before it faded to reveal him in a suit that has a color scheme of white and red with wide shoulders pads, a long fin on top of the white helmet with a red faceplate and blue eye lenses. There's also a white with a red strip in the middle attached to the back with a pack in between, and what would be noted the most is the pair of wheels attached to the heels of both feet **(Best way I could describe Dot-Phasor. if dissatisfied, you could refer to the cover art)**

[All systems are online, Naruto. we're good to go] said Minato.

[Hi Sochi-kun, Minato-kun] Kushina called out through Naruto's mind happily.

[Hey Kushina-chan] Minato smiled warmly at his wife.

" _Hi Kaa-san, are you doing okay?"_ asked Naruto.

[I'm just peachy, let's have some fun –ttebane!] said Kushina excitedly, although she blushed a bit from blurting her verbal tic out.

"Okay Ling, you head out first and I'll follow," said Naruto.

"Got it, see you on the arena," said Ling.

Then she stepped onto the launchpad and Naruto watched as it sent her out into the arena outside before returning its initial position. He also got on and was launched into the arena as well before landing on the ground next to Ling. The crowd murmured upon the sight of the Third Generation with the appearance of the second one.

"Is that the second IS from Italy?"

"I heard that its name is Dot-Phasor,"

"Look, it has wheels at the feet but no wings. It can't fly?"

"I wonder what it can do?"

Over at the seats was Cecelia as she watches with anxiousness whilst having Kurami sitting on her lap, watching as well.

"I still wish that I was there with Naruto-san, Kurami-chan. But I can understand, besides he did promise to make up for it…I need to plan on what we can do together once I'm fully recovered," said Cecelia musingly.

" _ **It might be sooner than you think, but you can bet that I'm coming along too. No way I'm leaving you alone with him!"**_ thought Kurami, glowing faintly with chakra. Naruto had Kurami use her chakra to hasten Ling and Cecelia's recovery speed with the former's being a lot quicker.

Back on the battlefield, Naruto and Ling watched as two Uchigane IS models were launched from the other side of the arena and landed a few distance away from them before drawing out their katanas as a holographic timer appeared at the center and began the countdown.

5…

"What's the plan Naruto?" Ling opened up a private channel on their comm links.

…4…

"We'll go with a divide and conquer tactic, but stay sharp for a baton pass at all times," said Naruto.

…3…

"Got it, Equip Dual Katanas!" then the pair of katanas materialized in her hands.

…2…

"Set Up, Z-Sword!" something shot out from the pack into the air and transformed before being caught by Naruto to reveal a sword comprising of two parallel orange energy blades, set a small distance apart from each other.

…1…

"Let's rock!" Naruto brandished the sword as the wheels on his feet started spinning rapidly in place with dust kicking up.

…0!

He rocketed off with Ling following up from behind towards their individual targets. He clashed blades with the pilot and both sides struggled for a few moments before his wheels spun again, slowly pushing her backwards with her feet forming trenches along the ground. She eventually deflected the sword to the side for Naruto to pass by and charged to strike his back. However Naruto quickly spun around to block the strike one handedly whilst countering with a kick to knock her backwards before calling out.

"Set Up, Z-Shooter!" another piece of equipment shot out from the pack and he caught it to reveal a single-hand atomic machine gun, he took aim and fired rapidly as he chased after his opponent who continued to retreat.

The girl grunted in frustration at the continuous assault and activated her comm link "Kira! I'm having serious trouble and could use some help over here!"

She received a response from her partner "I'm having problems of my own here, Kasumi! His partner won't let up for a second!"

As she said, Ling continued to clash blades with Kira and landed couple of hits on her shield energy. She blocked a double strike and went in for a diagonal slash only for Ling to back away slightly before deflecting it with one of her katanas and then using the other to strike, reducing more of her shield energy. Kira was getting more frustrated until she came up with an idea, she quickly communed her plan to Kasumi and both swung into action.

Naruto continued his assault upon Kasumi who continued to block his strikes and evade the shots as much as possible whilst backing away from him to which he quirked an eyebrow at. He glanced behind her for a moment and noticed that they were slowly approaching Ling and her with the same going for them.

" _I think I know what they're aiming for here,"_ thought Naruto.

[They intend to regroup and attack both you and Ling-san at the same time since individual battling isn't working for them] said Minato.

" _Yeah well, that isn't going to work,"_

At that point, both Kira and Kasumi were back to back and this time were able to deflect incoming attacks from Naruto and Ling with much more ease than when they fought one-on-one.

"Ling-chan, I need you to step back a bit! I'm gonna split those two apart!" said Naruto through the comm link.

"Got it!" Ling quickly backed away much to the girls' confusion until they turned their attention to Naruto who was rushing towards them.

"Set Up, Z-Hammer!" He clamped both the Z-Sword and Z-Shooter together as they combined before transmuted into a large hammer **"Attack Function: Grand Swing!"** the Z-hammer was coated in yellow energy as he launched his attack, Kasumi scrambled out of the way but Kira was a bit too slow to react and got hit, sending her flying with Naruto going after her.

"Kira!" Kasumi called out in worry.

"I'd rather you focus on me instead, **Attack Function: Dual Guillotine Cutter**!" Ling leapt into the air with a forward somersault before diving at Kasumi with blue energy coating the katanas for a double vertical slash, inflicting sufficient damage to drain the remaining shield energy and forcing the Uchigane to activate the Absolute Defense.

With Naruto, he kept his eyes on the airborne Kira who was falling towards the ground as he called out "Set Up, Z-Rifle!" the Z-Hammer again transformed into said weapon before taking aim **"Attack Function: Hawk Eye Drive!"** then a large red holographic reticle appeared a few meters from the muzzle which was gathering yellow energy, he pulled the trigger to fire a yellow projectile which upon passing through the reticle converted into a massive beam, slamming into Kira and shaving off what's left of her shield energy before she even touched the ground.

Then Chifuyu's voice was heard through the loudspeaker "This match is over, and the winners are Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore and Lingyin Huang. They will be advancing to the next round,"

The crowd cheered out loud at the battle that they just witnessed in addition to the display of both IS manufactured from Italy much to the interest of the foreign dignitaries. Ling walked towards Naruto with the helmet open to reveal smiling and she held her hand up, Naruto also opened his helmet to show his foxy grin before giving her a high-five for the victory.

"First win and a step closer to winning this tournament," said Ling.

"You got that right, Ling-chan," Naruto spoke in agreement.

In the observation room, Chifuyu and Maya had been watching the battle keenly. They were quite taken with the performance of the Dot-Phasor and Ling's capability of piloting Odin despite it belonging to Naruto.

"That was a great battle, Naruto-kun and Ling-san worked so well together," said Maya.

"They've done well, but this is merely the first round of the tournament so they shouldn't relax just yet," said Chifuyu.

"So what do you think of them?"

"Their teamwork is average to say the least, given that their opponents' IS weren't enough to bring out their potential but it might change in the next round. However I still find it most queer for Ling to be able to pilot Odin as Personal IS adjust themselves to suit the pilot's needs only," Chifuyu stared at a screenshot of Ling performing the Attack Function with Odin.

"According to Naruto-kun, he said that as long as he gave permission to the person chosen, Odin and probably Dot-Phasor could be piloted but only to a certain degree. Which means that the One-Off ability cannot be used by anyone else but him," said Maya.

Chifuyu looked thoughtful "I wonder how the Italians were able to create such a feature,"

Back at the locker room, Naruto and Ling were watching Ichika and 'Charles' having a match against two girls with one pilot an Uchigane while the other a Raphael Revive. They watched as Ichika and 'Charles' worked together and were quite impressed with their teamwork, Ichika would engage the opponent in close range while 'Charles' would provide support from a distance or join in the battle with gunfire at close range as well. This fight ended in their favor with Ichika utilizing his Byakushiki's one-off ability for the one-hit takedown and 'Charles' wearing away the other's shield energy with the firearms.

"They're pretty good," said Naruto.

"Yeah you're right, we should watch out for them," said Ling.

[And with good reason, like you they could cover each other in the midst of battle] said Minato.

[But I know we can beat them ttebane!] said Kushina.

However it was the next match which caught their attention, it was a match with Houki and Laura against two girls both piloting a Raphael Revive. Houki proved to be quite formidable with the katana but Laura was quite aggressive and the pilots didn't even stand a chance thanks to the AIC blocking every single one of their attacks before retaliating with extreme prejudice.

"Could that girl be any more of a jerk than she already is?" said Ling with a glare at the screen.

"That AIC is really going to make things difficult if we run into them," said Naruto then he thought back to the fight that he and 'Charles' had with her _"There's something up about that, better look into it later,"_

"With the first rounds being over, we will now display the matchups for the next round," Chifuyu's was heard through the loudspeaker before the screens displayed the tournament bracket and the advancements, showing the next matches.

"Looks like we're going up against Ichika and 'Charles' while Houki and Laura will face another team," said Ling.

"It's a given that Laura and Houki will win, but if we defeat Ichika then we get to battle them," said Naruto.

"I get to pay Laura back for what she did to my IS too,"

"Yeah but for now we need to focus our attention on our current opponents,"

[Smart thinking son] said Minato with a smile.

"So what's the plan?" asked Ling.

"Well we both know what they're capable and they know about us namely Odin's specs but they have little knowledge of Dot-Phasor. You'll take on 'Charles' while I go up against Ichika," said Naruto.

"Okay, but why?"

"Odin is loaded with weapons to match up against 'Charles' arsenal and a couple of Attack Functions to help you out too but remember that some of them can only work once. For me, I'll use my swordsmanship to keep Ichika occupied and prevent them from executing any combos against us,"

They continued to discuss their strategy for a while then ten minutes later, Chifuyu made the announcement for the next match to start. The duo made their way back to the launching bay and were sent out into the field where they saw Ichika and 'Charles' waiting for them.

Naruto's helmet opened up to reveal him smirking "Looks like we get to face each other in an official match huh, Ichika?"

"You're right, and I'm ready to beat you," said Ichika.

"You guys better not hold anything back on us!" said Ling.

"Don't worry Ling-san, we won't" said 'Charles' with a smile.

Then the timer began the countdown

…5

…4

…3

…2

…1

…0!

 **Music Start: Metal Gear Rising OST; The Stains of Time**

"Here we go! Set Up, Z-Shooter and Z-Sword!" both weapons shot out from his pack before Naruto caught one with each hand and quickly charging forward. He took aim with his firearm and launched a volley of energy projectiles at Ichika who was darting left and right to evade the incoming projectiles. He was up close to the blond when he attacked with a horizontal slash from his Yukihira Nigata, Naruto twirled his sword to hold it in a reverse grip as he raised it to block the strike.

Naruto raised his gun to aim at Ichika with his finger about to pull the trigger, then 'Charles' appeared behind Ichika with an assault rifle ready to fire on Naruto. but then several shots came from above and successfully hit her, making Ichika and 'Charles' look up to see Ling diving towards them with an assault rifle of her own while still firing.

"Sorry but I'm not letting you two double team Naruto! Substitute Dual Katanas!" Ling swapped her firearm out for blades as she lashed out with a strike, forcing 'Charles' to move away from the boys with her in pursuit.

Without any interruptions, Naruto went ahead to fire rapidly at Ichika and executed a mid-kick to knock him back. Ichika remained undeterred as he went on the offensive once more and this this time launched a series of quick attacks with Naruto playing defense whilst skating backwards to avoid being rushed by the onslaught.

Ling swung her blades consecutively with 'Charles' wielding a small knifelike blade to defend, she blocked one of the slashes before materializing a shotgun to shoot **"Attack Function: Shell Shield!"** a silver dome projected around Ling right before 'Charles' fired with the bullets being deflected much to her shock "Substitute Dual Semi-Automatics!" Ling rapidly switched out her katanas for firearms before executing her next move **"Attack Function: Dual Rise Shot!"** Ling dashed forward and swung her guns upwards to knock 'Charles' into the air then she fired rapidly to juggle her in midair.

'Charles' managed to recover from the attack and hovered in the air, then she swapped out her shotgun for a submachine gun and then returned fire, forcing Ling to retreat "She's pretty tough, I've got to be more careful,"

With Ling, she was looking at her shield gauge which had reduced quite a bit from both the fight and the use of the Attack Functions "I better watch it or I'll end up getting myself in a jam if I keep using the Attack Functions anyhow like Naruto-kun warned me,"

Naruto continued to defend with the Z-Sword and retaliate with the Z-Shooter while Ichika would angle his blade to deflect some of the bullets. That was when he moved for the counterattack "Set Up, Z-Lance!" he clamped both weapons as they merged before transforming into a lance, he quickly parried Ichika's downward strike to the side which left him vulnerable **"Attack Function: Phalanx!"** he took a step forward with the Z-Lance charged up with blue energy then he unleashed a barrage of thrusts, whittling away Ichika's shield energy before the last strike knocked him backwards.

Ichika took a few steps back and was watching Naruto still wielding the Z-Lance and taking a stance while remaining alert "I keep forgetting that Naruto can pull off surprises when you least expect it, he targeted me knowing full well that he could defend against Yukihira Nigata's One-Off ability," from the corner of his eye, he could see Ling and 'Charles' pretty much occupied in fighting each other _"I need to regroup with Charles, that way we can stand a better chance of winning,"_

Naruto kept his eye on Ichika, waiting for his next move. He didn't have to wait any longer as Ichika lunged at him with a stab. Naruto quickly used his lance to parry to attack however Ichika refused to pull back but rather maneuvered past him and activated his Ignition Boost to dash towards Ling and 'Charles' much to his surprise.

"Damn! It was a feint!" Naruto rushed after him with his own Ignition Boost but the distance was too great.

Ling was currently focused on 'Charles' when she suddenly heard a voice called out to her.

[Move to the right!] a feminine voice spoke up with urgency.

For a split second, she was confused but complied with the voice. The moment she dashed to the right side, a white blur passed by her much to her surprise that it was Ichika who had his Reiraku Byakuya active and had almost struck her.

" _That voice, who was it that spoke to me?"_ thought Ling.

Ichika was surprised that his attack was evaded but turned around to strike at Ling when a red and white blur slammed into him to reveal that it was Naruto. He made to pull away but Naruto grabbed his sword arm and held on tight, making sure that he couldn't move it.

"Let's have a little joyride from the girls, Ichi!" the wheels on Dot-Phasor spun wildly before they zoomed off and away from Ling and 'Charles'. Naruto switched from the Z-Lance to the Z-Shooter then he unleashed a quick-fire upon Ichika as they moved along before swinging around and flinging him away. He took aim and was about to fire again when something impacted him from behind and turned around to see 'Charles' charging towards him at high-speed whilst firing at him with a submachine gun and a shotgun "'Charles' can use the Ignition Boost?!"

"Surely you haven't forgotten about me!" said 'Charles', but she moved to the side to evade a slash from Ling.

"That's what _I_ should be saying!" said Ling.

"Then I'll have to end this!" 'Charles' ejected the physical shielding on her left arm to reveal a pointed battering ram much to Ling's shock.

"That's a Shield Pierce!" Ling equipped the Beam Guarder and block the weapon but 'Charles' triggered it revolver type mechanism with the impact powerful enough to knock her back several meters. Ling looked up to see 'Charles' dashing towards her ready to strike once more "I need to damage her hard enough to force her IS to shut down before mine does! But how?"

[Use this] that voice spoke to her again, then an interface came on display of her HUD.

" _It's that voice again, could it be Naruto-kun's IS helping me?"_ thought Ling. Then she switched the Beam Guarder out for the Dual Katanas once more before calling out **"Attack Function: Blazing Dragon Duet!"** the katanas ignited in flames and took on the shape of dragon heads, then she threw them at 'Charles' who was surprised but quickly evaded them and continued to approach Ling. However the flaming blades sharply turned around and homed in on their target with one of them slashing into her followed by the second, they continued to slash at multiple directions consecutively before returning to Ling who caught them before charging towards 'Charles' and executed a cross slash, completely erasing what's left of 'Charles' shield energy and activating her Absolute Defense.

'Charles' let out a sigh of disappointment for having lost but looked up to smile at Ling "That was a good match,"

"I have to agree with you, maybe the next we battle I'll be using my own IS," said Ling.

"I'll be looking forward to it,"

Back with Naruto and Ichika, both were clashing blades with Naruto making sure not to get hit with the Reiraku Byakuya and Ichika trying to land a successful strike on him. Ichika struck out with a downward slash however Naruto positioned his Z-Sword in such a way that the Yukihira Nigata slid in between the gaps of the blades. He quickly twisted his arm to wrench the blade out of Ichika's grip and sent it flying to embed itself on the ground far from them.

"Time to bust loose!" Naruto actually tossed his sword aside and dashed towards Ichika to engage him in hand-to-hand combat. Naruto unleashed combos of punches and kicks back-to-back with Ichika blocking and retaliating but none of them could touch him. The Hummingbird style centers around striking and countering the enemy with speedy strikes whilst evading attacks and repositioning to attack from another angle to strike elsewhere. Such is what Ichika is currently experiencing with Naruto hitting him with punches then suddenly breaking off to stand from his left to kick before returning to the front to attack again.

Ichika saw his blade nearby and made to approach it, but Naruto took note earlier and zoomed ahead to kick it further away from them "It's over for you, Ichika!" he held a palm out as a blue spiraling sphere took form **"Rasengan!"** before ramming into his torso and all he could do is watch the remainder of his shield energy empty and his IS also activated his Absolute Defense.

 **End Music**

"Match over! Winners of the second are Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore and Lingyin Huang. They will be advancing to the third round," said Chifuyu through the loudspeaker. The crowd went wild over the match that they just witnessed and the dignitaries were eyeing Naruto for his performance and were making plans to meet with him for an affiliation.

Naruto looked down at Ichika with a smile on his face as his helmet was open "Looks like I won,"

"That you did, we'll be rooting for you in the next match," Ichika smiled back at the blond.

Maya watched the group especially Naruto return to the locker room with a smile on her face for his victory. She turned to Chifuyu ad was surprised to see the edges of her lips curling up a bit before it reverted to her default look.

"I expected Naruto and Ling to win this match," said Chifuyu.

"Really how?" asked Maya.

"Despite both knowing about each other's IS, Ichika and Charles had set up precautions for Naruto's Dot-Phasor. However Naruto's combat style as well as his experience played a factor to the point of exploiting Ichika's glaring weakness of hand-to-hand combat despite tossing aside his weapon being an unwise decision. Charles could have defeated Ling if not for the fact that she employed several defensive tactics and executed a powerful enough attack or she would have been derived of her shield energy from Charles' Shield Pierce,"

"But what about when she evaded Ichika's attack from behind?" asked Maya looking at the playback of said scene on a screen.

"I am most curious of that, Ling should have been hit but somehow she must have been alerted in a way. Hopefully after this battle, my idiot of a brother would have learnt to be more open-minded than before if he wants to be an accomplished IS pilot,"

"I'm sure with Naruto-kun there to help, he'll be sure to," said Maya cheerfully.

Chifuyu frowned a bit at Maya adding such a suffix to Naruto's name, it irks her for some strange reason but doesn't know why. She'll be looking into this during her free time.

Inside the locker room, Naruto and the others were looking at the tournament bracket on screen. It showed Naruto and Ling advancing to the next round, sure enough Laura and Houki had advanced as well after defeating their opponents like Naruto predicted and personally hoped.

"So we finally get to fight Laura and Houki," said Ling.

"Yeah, this fight is going to be tricky though," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?" asked 'Charles'.

"It's without a doubt that Laura will be targeting me throughout this incoming fight, not to say Houki would be doing the same having seen me as a potential threat. The number one advantage we have is teamwork that they lack so we'll put it to our advantage," said Naruto.

[You're right, merely glancing at Laura-san tells me that she would disregard her partner as soon as the battle starts] said Minato.

[Then Ling-chan and I will be keeping Houki-san busy and away from you three] said Kushina.

"But what about her AIC?" asked Ichika.

"I'll be looking out for any weak points when on the battlefield, though I think I found one," said Naruto.

* * *

Later on, Naruto and Ling were called back into the field as they faced off against Laura and Houki, Laura smirking haughtily upon seeing Naruto before her.

"So we finally met face-to-face, it was to be expected that Orimura to lose to you since he's so weak…truly unworthy of being related to the instructor," said Laura.

Naruto however frowned "You have no right to speak of Ichika that way, one of the reasons why I want to fight you is to make you see reality as well as knock you down a few pegs," said Naruto.

They looked into each other's eyes or rather eye in Laura's case, Naruto took note of what her eyes depicted…loneliness, sorrow and anger much to his surprise now that he paid attention.

" _Why does she have those eyes? They're similar to mine and Gaara's,"_ thought Naruto.

[I don't know, but for now you should focus on the fight] said Minato.

They waited as the timer counted down for the third time until the horn blared out loud for the match to begin.

 **Music Start: Dissidia: Final Fantasy OST; Those Who Fight Further (FFVII)**

Naruto was the first to start things as he charged straight towards Laura while firing at her with his Z-Shooter and wielded the Z-Sword in the other hand. Laura held her hand out to activate her AIC to block the incoming projectiles, Houki seized that moment to dash towards Naruto and slashed at him only for it to be blocked. Suddenly their systems alerted them of being locked on and turned to see Laura aiming her railgun at both of them, they quickly split apart before she took the shot which hit the wall.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Houki shouted indignantly, but Laura ignored her and went after Naruto whilst projecting sabers made entirely out of purple energy from her arms. Houki made to follow but she was intercepted by Ling wielding Dual Katanas.

"I can't let you go and forget about me Houki," said Ling.

"Then I'll just have to defeat you before going after Naruto,"

"Good luck with that," Ling charged at her to engage in close combat.

Naruto was currently deflecting the incoming strikes from Laura's beam sabers, but he couldn't help but look into her eyes from time to time. It was like fighting Gaara during the Sand and Sound Invasion on Konoha and wished to find out why she's that way. He snapped back to attention upon seeing her launch four of her wired-guided daggers towards him, Naruto knocked them away with his blade and returned fire, forcing her to take evasive action.

"Set Up, Z-Rifle!" he attached both weapons to transform into said firearm then he turned to aim at an unsuspecting Houki and called out **"Attack Function: Beam Shot!"** blue energy gathered at the muzzle of the rifle before he pulled the trigger to fire a large beam which impacted Houki. She turned around and was about to approach him then she heard Ling call out from behind.

" **Attack Function: Power Slash!"** light energy gathered on the blade before she swung to unleash a blue crescent wave ahead. Houki darted to the side to avoid the incoming projectile.

Naruto got an alert of being targeted again and sharply called out "Set Up, Z-Shield!" the said gear shot from his back and latched onto to his left arm, he turned to see Laura fire her railgun at him as he raised the shield and angled it in such a way that the projectile deflected off of it but the recoil wasn't easily shrugged off "Set Up, Z-Lance!" his weapon quickly changed forms before he took a stance **"Attack Function: Sonic Lance!"** the lance emitted a blue aura before it spread throughout the IS then Naruto lunged at Laura with a high-speed thrust.

"How typical of you," Laura held her hand out to activate the AIC barrier, freezing Naruto in place before aiming her railgun at point blank ready to fire.

"Ling, I need a shot here!" Naruto called through the comm link.

"I'm on it!" Ling pushed Houki backwards before ascending to the air "Substitute Assault Rifle!" then she swapped out for the said firearm and took aim at Laura before firing several shots, causing her to lose her concentration and the AIC to deactivate and Naruto was free to continue with his attack and struck her in the chest.

" _I see…so that's how it is,"_ thought Naruto, he ducked under a slash from Houki who had switched targets to him "Ling engage Laura while I face Houki!"

"Got it!" Ling flew towards Laura all the while shooting at her with the assault rifle but the projectiles were stopped in their tracks by the AIC.

"So you face me again only to lose just like last time…and to think you called me a masochist back then," Laura taunted.

"I'm not going to lose to you this time! You can count on it!" said Ling before swapping out for the dual handguns.

Naruto clashed blades with Houki, though it appears that she could keep up with his sword style, having sparred with him a couple of times. He deflected an attack and retaliated with a horizontal slash which was blocked. That was when he take a page out of an old friend's book.

"Leaf Hurricane!" he jumped into the air towards Houki with a spinning roundhouse kick but it was avoided by her ducking under the kick, however he landed sideways on his hand while still in the process of spinning and lashed out with a low kick. Houki got hit and was knocked back several meters away. Naruto refused to let up on the pressure as he charged towards her and combined his weapons to form the Z-Hammer **"Attack Function: Swing Hammer!"** he spun around several times with the hammer glowing yellow before striking at Houki hard enough to send her flying into a wall.

Houki made to stand up and attack, however the Uchigane refused to move as her HUD alerted her that she was out of shield energy and longer capable of battling _"Is this as far as I can go with a regular IS?"_

[Now that she's out of commission, we'll now focus on Laura] said Minato.

"You're right," Naruto turned to see that Ling was trapped by the AIC "Now to test a theory," he skated around to position himself behind Laura after transforming his weapon to the Z-Rifle **"Attack Function: Compressed Shot!"** he pulled the trigger which fired four bullets at once to pelt Laura and release Ling.

"As I thought…Ling I found out the weak point of the AIC!" said Naruto through the comm link.

"What is it?" asked Ling.

"She has to focus on what she targets within her sight for the AIC to work and it can't be used consecutively,"

"And with Houki out of the way, we can attack her from different angles,"

"Got it in one, now let's take it to her!" the duo rushed towards Laura with the intent to attack.

[That's right! Teamwork is the strongest power over all] said Kushina.

"I'll crush the both of you!" Laura launched all six of the wired daggers towards them, Naruto moved forward and coated the blade of his Z-Sword with wind chakra to enhance its cutting edge before quickly slicing the wires to pieces, Ling overtook him and lunged at Laura with a cross slash with her katanas "You fools never learn!" she stopped Ling with the AIC once more but failed to see Ling smirking behind the helmet along with Naruto.

" **Ignition Boost: Sonic Flicker"** Naruto disappeared in a blur whilst leaving behind trails of afterimages with Laura's eyes widening in shock. Then she felt something slam into her from the back, sending her flying across the field. Laura looked back to see Naruto wielding the Z-Hammer before shifting it to the Z-Sword and Z-Shooter.

"Why you!" Laura glared at him and was about to charge when she heard a voice from her left side.

"You should really be paying attention!" She turned to see Ling a few meters from her "I won't miss with this! Attack Function: Drill Slasher!" energy gather and swirling around the katana like a conical drill then she charged and jabbed into Laura's torso, draining a large amount of shield energy to perform the skill but inflict critical damage in exchange.

 **Music End**

Laura was sent tumbling backwards, all that she could think was based on the disbelief that she was actually losing _"I can't…lose! There's no way I can lose!"_ Then memories of her past flowed into her mind.

"Genetically-enhanced test subject No. C0037. Your identity is now…Laura Bodewig," a male voice spoke up.

 _"I was made only for fighting. Born and bred, training my entire life in expectation,"_ Memories of her undergoing training such as hand-to-hand, armed combat and dogfighting passed through her mind _"I was superior, I aimed for the next level…but that was before the world's greatest weapon appeared: IS. In order to raise my conformance to it as quickly as possible, I had nanomachines implanted into my body,"_ she recalled her numerous failures during her IS training _"But my body rejected them fiercely, and as a result I was branded a failure. That was when I met that person, she was an extremely skilled teacher. In her troop of IS soldiers, I was trained at the highest level"_

Laura remembered the question which she asked Chifuyu of the origin of her strength and the answer which horrified her…her Instructor was strong because of her younger brother who is considered weak in her eyes _"It was wrong…how could she have such a kind face? The teacher I admired was strong, brave and fair. But because of him that she changed into that…it's unforgivable and I refuse to acknowledge him! And now another stands before me with great power, a power he claims to originate from protecting 'friends'. Such strength is nothing but an illusion and I need power to crush it!"_ Laura frown on seeing the memories of Naruto and Ichika standing before her.

[Do you wish for it? do you want an even stronger power?] a mechanized voice suddenly spoke from within her mind.

 _"Give me power, an unmatched ultimate power!"_ said Laura with a yellow light shining through her eyepatch.

* * *

Naruto and Ling were facing Laura who was just standing there "Okay Ling, let's…" he was interrupted by a loud scream and it was coming from Laura.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Laura screamed out as blue arcs of energy burst from her body and surrounded her much to their confusion.

"W-what's going on?!" asked Ling worriedly, she wasn't the only one as everyone else watched with shock. Cecelia held on to Kurami tightly much to the vixen's discomfort.

"Assume Level D of alert," said Chifuyu from the control room.

"Roger that," Maya proceeded to input commands into the main computer.

Naruto watched as Laura's IS suddenly changed into some sort of black sludge which deformed and enveloped her, the last thing he saw was Laura's eyes being full of fear before being engulfed. That alone told him that something's wrong big time.

"Kaa-san Tou-san! Can you figure out what's going on?!" thought Naruto.

[We don't know, but as far as we can tell, Laura's IS has gone completely berserk and out of control] said Minato.

[That and it could be harmful to her health] said Kushina.

Then the sludge began to take on the form of a female humanoid onboard an IS while wielding a katana all too similar to him and Ling.

"That sword…it looks just like the Yukihira Nigata!" said Naruto.

Then they heard Chifuyu's voice on the loudspeaker with the horn blaring "Attention: this is an emergency. The tournament has been suspended, Level D alert had been declared. Teacher troops are on their way so please evacuate," said Chifuyu, then blast shields closed down at where the spectators and VIPs are for safety precautions.

 **Music start: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep OST; Enter the Darkness**

The Black IS turned it head to towards Naruto and the next he knew was that it was bearing down on him with its blade raised above its head before slashing at him. Naruto brought his blade up to block and was unexpectedly pushed back by the force of the attack.

[Sochi be careful! It seems to be targeting you!] said Kushina.

[Whatever you do, don't let that blade if it's anything like the original then it could take down all of your shield energy] said Minato.

"Naruto!" Naruto turned to see Ling about to approach and help but sharply called out to her.

"Ling stay back! it's after me!" said Naruto.

"Then let me help, the two of us can take it down together!" said Ling.

"No, this IS is fighting to kill. I could tell from the strike I just blocked and-" Naruto couldn't say anymore as the black IS was upon with another strike, he braced himself for another heavy strike but it was to his surprise when the strike was very light before it quickly pulled and launched a horizontal strike, realizing that it was a feint he dashed backwards on the wheels in order to get out of range and was being pursued while being forced to defend. He launched several attacks but all were blocked before being countered and had to evade again.

"Chifuyu-sensei, Maya-sensei! Any idea what I'm engaging here?" asked Naruto.

"What you're facing is a program known as the Valkyrie Trace System which has taken control of Laura's IS," said Chifuyu.

"Valkyrie Trace System?" he questioned in curiosity.

"It is a program that emulates the performance of winners from Mondo Grosso. Simply put, it tries to copy all aspects of previous Mondo Grosso champions to enable any IS to fight like the champion who's basically the world's strongest,"

"Since I haven't heard of it, then that means that this program has flaws,"

"You're right Naruto-kun, the system strains the pilot to an extreme level, often to life threatening states. So it was strictly banned by the Alaska Treaty, so I don't understand why Laura has it installed in her IS," said Maya.

"I don't think she even knew about its existence, I saw that she was scared when it took over. Which champion is the system currently emulating…I think I have a good idea who," said Naruto gripping his sword tightly.

"Who?" asked Ling.

"…Chifuyu Orimura," then he thought to himself _"This fight just leveled up by a lot,"_

"Naruto-kun, the teachers are almost there. You can leave the situation to them," said Maya.

"I can't, right now Laura is in danger with the IS going nuts. I need to get her out of there before it's too late, not to mention that it has its eyes on me,"

No sooner he said that did the said IS lunge at him with quick strikes for him to block consecutively and backed away and think of a plan.

" _Tou-san, do you have any ideas? I could use some if I want to get to Laura without hurting her,"_

[Most solutions involve you using your ninjutsu but it will lead to exposing yourself and writing it off as a One-Off ability won't work] said Minato.

" _Then anything else?"_ he equipped the Z-Lance to block a horizontal slash and retaliated with a thrust to force it back.

[There's one and it could give you an edge over the IS, but it's potentially fatal if you're not careful]

" _Then let's use it!"_ thought Naruto.

[But Sochi, it-] Kushina began nut was interrupted.

" _Sounds like the best option for us now, it's a race against the clock!"_

[…very well then, activating Overload!] said Minato.

Suddenly Naruto felt his mind become much clearer. His sense of smell, taste and reflexes had heightened to a large degree. He suddenly heard footsteps approaching and looked to see the IS attacking him again but in his eyes, it looked to be moving in slow motion. Unknown to Naruto was that an orange color was brimming from the edges of his iris.

Naruto equipped his Z-Sword and parried the incoming strike before performing a barrage of slashes all of which struck at its joints. He was reacting to the IS attacks before it even starts and counters as such "Whirling Spiral Strikes!" he orbited around his opponent at blurring speeds and unleashed one attack after another, soon numerous gaps could be seen all over it.

Maya and Chifuyu were surprised to see Naruto fighting so differently than normal.

"How is he moving so quickly?" asked Maya in wonder.

"It must have something to do with his IS, something must be enhancing his physical abilities," said Chifuyu, her eyes focused on screen waiting to see the conclusion of the battle.

Naruto then reappeared before the black IS with his blade raised it over his head "Get…cut!" he brought it down in a single stroke and everywhere was silent

 **Music End**

A split appeared at the torso opened and Laura was falling through it, Naruto quickly stepped forward catch her in his arms as his IS reverted to its Closed Form and his eyes had returned to normal. He checked her pulse and was relieved to discover that she was alright but just unconscious.

"Thank goodness she's al...right?" he suddenly felt his entire body very heavy and fell to his knees whilst gasping for breath, his head felt like it was going to split into two "What's happening to me?"

[That's one of the side effect from using the Overload, it increases the brain activity but leaves the user extremely fatigued. However excessive use could result in brain damage so please use it wisely] said Minato.

 _"Thanks Tou-san, don't think I'll even be using it for a while,"_ thought Naruto, he watched as the teachers approached to provide and closed his eyes to rest.

Laura woke up and look around to see that she was laying down on a cot in the infirmary after everything that happened. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Naruto catching her in his arms which strange or rather foreign to her that it felt warm to the touch.

"I see that you're awake," Laura turned to see Chifuyu sitting next to her.

"Instructor? What happened?" asked Laura.

The Chifuyu proceeded to explain what had happened when the Valkyrie Trace System activated, also how Naruto was able to put a stop to it.

"So it happened because I wanted it," Laura clenched her bed covers tightly.

"Laura Bodewig…who are you?" asked Chifuyu.

Laura looked at her confusedly "Who am I?"

"If you're nobody in particular, that's perfect. Then you're Laura Bodewig from now on," Chifuyu got up from her seat and walked towards the exit but stopped before it and looked back with a small smile on her face "And…you can't become me,"

With those words she left, and all Laura could do was laugh with a true smile on her face. It felt as if a certain weight was lifted from her shoulders, then something else came into mind which caught her interest.

* * *

Now it was Naruto's turn to wake up and find himself in his room with the sun already down. He had persuaded the medics that all he needed was rest despite protests from Ling, Maya and the others. As he sat up, he took note that 'Charles' wasn't in the room and Kurami was sleeping next to him but is now awake.

" **Geez Naru-kun, using Overload was very dangerous. You put yourself in danger,"** said Kurami with a frown.

Naruto rubbed the back of her ears while looking apologetic "Sorry if I worried you, I won't be using it unless in extreme situations,"

" **I hope so,"**

"So anything new while I was out?"

" **The teachers announced the opening of the boys' bath this evening. Ichika has already gone and used it,"**

"Great, I'll be going for a dip then," Naruto grabbed his towel and other stuff before making his way to the new bathroom.

Naruto finally located the place and was quite taken with it, it is a large indoor bathroom with views of the forest and the tower. He took off his clothes and dipped into the path, letting out a sigh of relief as he feel his weariness just float away from his body.

"Haaaaaah, that feels so good. It's no hot spring but it certainly hits the spot," said Naruto.

"…I'm coming in," Naruto recognized the voice to be 'Charles' and went stiff as a wooden board.

"Charles, what are you doing here?"

"Don't you want me to be here?"

"No, that's not what I meant,"

"Well I thought that having a bath together would be fun,"

"But, but,"

"And there's something I want to talk to you about,"

That sentence pretty much shut Naruto up to let her to join him in the bath, they were currently sitting with their backs to each other and neither were talking until 'Charles' broke the silence.

"…when you told me that I could stay here with you and away from my father," she heard Naruto growl at hearing her say that last word "It made me feel very happy…and I've come to a decision relating to it,"

Naruto felt 'Charles' take a hold of his hand and felt his heart thump against his chest, Kushina was cooing about how romantic it was much to his embarrassment "What is it you decided?"

"I've decided how I should be…and that is to be a girl,"

[Like she should have been from the start if not for that bastard] said Kushina.

"Um Naruto-kun…could you call me by my real name. My mother named me Charlotte," said the truly named Charlotte.

Naruto smiled "Your mom chose a good name for you…Charlotte," then he heard a splash and felt Charlotte hug him from behind as well as something else.

" _Thank you for everything…Naruto-kun,"_ thought Charlotte, letting out a sigh of happiness.

* * *

The next day with everyone in class, Maya stood behind the table with a sheepish look on her face.

"Um…I have a new transfer student to introduce today,"

Then a girl entered the class wearing the academy uniform only that it is with a skirt and she wears red and white sneakers with her bare feet. Everyone immediately recognized her and some reason Naruto began to get a bad feeling.

"My name is Charlotte Dunois, it's nice to meet you all again!" said Charlotte happily, whispers could be heard amongst the girls.

"Um, Dunois-kun is actually Dunois-san," said Maya, she frowned a bit upon looking at Naruto though

Then the girls started the chatter out loud.

"So Dunois-kun is a girl?"

"I knew she was strange! She wasn't a beautiful boy but a beautiful girl!"

"Wait a minute, Uzumaki-kun, why doesn't anyone else know this?"

"Wait, didn't they both use the boys' bath yesterday?"

Now THAT question made Naruto to start sweating profusely.

[Uh son, I think you should start planning an escape route] said Minato

*Boom*

[…too late]

A piece of the wall had been broken down to reveal Ling in her IS and looking very pissed and she wasn't the only one as Cecelia had put on her IS and was pointing her Laser Rifle.

"Naruto-san…please die," said Cecelia with a cold smile.

"Wait, wait, wait! I can explain all this!" Naruto waved his hands wildly in hopes of calming them down…which was obviously not working, he looked up to the ceiling _"Kaa-san, Tou-san…I'm coming home,"_

*Bang*

He closed his eyes in preparation of being blasted into pieces…but he didn't feel anything! He looked only to be surprised upon seeing Laura in her newly repaired IS standing in front of him with her AIC active.

"Laura you saved me! Thanks so much!" said Naruto happily.

Laura turned around to grab Naruto by the shoulder and kiss him right on the lips…wait what?

…

…

…

[WOW! This one certainly doesn't waste any time that's for sure] said Kushina.

[Oh dear] Minato could only pity his son at the moment.

" **Not another one,"** Kurami grumbled.

Both broke from the kiss with a blush on their faces while everyone stood there speechless.

"You'll be my wife! That's final and I won't accept any objections!" said Laura.

Naruto blinked for a second before asking a rather stupid question "Wife? Aren't I supposed to be the husband?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" The girls yelled.

"Oh right," then he leapt through the hole in the wall and ran down the hallway with Cecelia, Ling and Laura in pursuit.

"Naruto, get back here!" shouted Ling.

"Please explain yourself, Naruto-san!" said Cecelia.

"Why are you running away from your wifely duties?" asked Laura.

"Maybe later, right now I have a will to live!" Naruto yelled back as he continued to run.

Ichika remained in the class with a confused look on his face before speaking "…what was that all about?"

* * *

Somewhere far away in a dark room, a council of men half of them dressed in military clothes and the other half in lab coats with all of them watching a large screen showing a battle in the Intra-Class Tournament, particularly on a blonde piloting an IS. One of the men in a lab coat stood up to address the others.

"Gentlemen, as you can see from the video…the rumors of a second male IS pilot were true," said the man, murmurs could be heard amongst themselves "This young man holds the key our salvation, the key to enabling men to pilot IS of their own unlike that bigot Tabane Shinonono who refused to fix such a flaw,"

"What do you mean by that?" asked one of the militants.

"If we were to acquire his DNA and apply it to our other project…we would be able create army that the world has never seen before as well as turn the tides of the unbalanced gender ratio,"

Whispers of agreement was heard throughout the room.

"So when do we attain the target?"

"In due time my fellow comrade…in due time,"

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, looks like things really went down on the Intra-Class Tournament until when Naruto and Ling went up against Laura and Houki with the former's IS going crazy with Naruto utilizing something rather dangerous to stop her. And now 'Charles' decided to be her real self which pretty much set Cecelia and Ling on a rampage and Laura to put a stop to it only to make things worse by kissing Naruto and proclaiming him to be her wife. And let's not forget that someone's peeking from the shadows with their eyes set on the blond ninja.**

 **Before anyone goes to claim that I nerfed any of the characters especially the berserk IS, know that I really thought long and hard about this and tried to make sure to play to each character's strength and weaknesses. So you flamers better lay off of me. Anyway, the next chapter will stray off a bit from the canon storyline as well as finally introduce the character from the R********** anime. So be sure to stay tuned and find out what happens in the next chapter so read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	11. A Bad Day to be You

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 10: A Bad Day to be You**

Naruto laid asleep on his bed peacefully but then had to squint his eyes in order to block out the ray of sun which shone through the window onto his face to his annoyance.

" _Damn sun, if you weren't so important to the world, I would have flown over to where you are and seal you away forever,"_ thought Naruto with a grumble. Reluctantly he sat from his bed and looked across to see that the other bed was empty before letting out a sigh of depression. Ever since Charlotte revealed her true gender, the administration had her moved to another room. Naruto cheered a sad Charlotte that they could still hang out though the truth is that he felt a bit lonely, not counting his parents and Kurami. Speaking of which…where is she?

Before Naruto could look around, he felt something wrap around his waist and legs. With a deadpanned expression, he pulled the blanket back to reveal Laura sleeping next to him…in the nude…again if you can exclude the eyepatch and garter belt. You see, ever since the incident involving Laura's kiss and Naruto's escape from the enraged girls, Laura had been doing several things too ridiculous to even mention and every time he questions her, she always replied that it was how couples express their love for each to the point of sneaking into his bed unnoticed…and he was supposed to be a ninja! Maya, Kurami, Cecelia and Ling didn't like this at all and would do everything to stop her but Laura was just too persistent.

" _This again…there's gotta be a way to stop this!"_ thought Naruto while looking at Laura _"Though I have to admit that she does look cute while asleep,"_

" **Oh good for you,"** a voice growled out in his mind.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprised _"Kurami-chan? Where are you?"_

" **Over here at the side of the bed,"** he looked over only to be surprised upon seeing Kurami all tied up and muzzled **"Before you ask, that girl snuck in and tied me up while I was asleep! Let me out of here so I can scratch her eye out!"**

" _Ok just hold on before I get her out of here, so I can get dressed,"_

" **What?! Let me out now!"**

" _If we make a ruckus, Chifuyu will show up again and remember what happened last time?"_

"…"

" _Exactly, so please wait just a little longer,"_ Naruto reached over and shook Laura gently "Hey Laura, wake up,"

Laura slowly opened her and got up while yawning cutely, Naruto hastily covered her with the blanket though she looked at him confusedly.

"Good morning, but why are you covering me? I heard spouses don't hide things from each other," said Laura.

Naruto fought back the urge to facepalm as he looked at the misunderstood girl, a far cry from the one he first encountered, he let out a sigh before responding to her "Yes that may be true, but the problem is that we aren't spouses since we aren't married,"

"Then let's get married," said Laura as blunt as a constantly used kitchen knife.

"What? No! It doesn't work that way! One doesn't get married just like that! There has to be mutual trust and…they have to well…like each other," Naruto felt a bit awkward at the end.

"Then that's no problem since I already like you,"

"Oh yeah? What's to like about me?" Naruto looked at her challengingly.

"You're brave, strong, kind, protective, and very forgiving. That's why I like you, do you like me?" Naruto was floored by her answer and backed away a bit when she asked him that question while staring into his eyes.

"Ummm…well, I didn't like you before when we first met…but I can say now that I'm starting to like you…since you've become more friendly," Naruto felt really awkward now.

"So you don't fully like me…then I'll just have to make you like me starting now," Laura got off the bed and picked up her clothes to change into them then made for the door before turning to look at the blond "You just wait Naruto Uzumaki, you'll soon be my wife," then she closed the door behind her with Naruto simply sitting on the bed with eyes wide open and slack jawed.

[Wow…I wasn't expecting that at all] said Kushina.

[Though I have to hand it to, she certainly knows how to set her goals] said Minato [And you still haven't corrected her about the marital roles]

"I…well I…I never expected her to say those things to me," Naruto replied, still stunned.

[Well you better free Kurami from those ropes before she gets any more upset] said Kushina, that seemed to snap him out of it as he went to untie Kurami who sprung at him and scratched at his face much to his confusion.

"What did you do that for?!"

" **You took too long!"** Kurama looked away with a huff _**"And you were ogling at her when she said those things…which I was supposed to say!"**_

"Yeah well I'm going to take a bath and change, since Charl needs some things for her new home," said Naruto.

[That's so sweet of you, Sochi-kun. Now hurry up and get going since it's the weekend] said Kushina.

Naruto nodded in affirmation before he went ahead to take his bath followed by putting on some casual clothing and having some breakfast consisting of French toast and milk along with some fruits. Then he strolled out of the dormitory where he found Charlotte at the entrance in her school uniform.

Naruto tapped his head in realization of why Charlotte doesn't have any feminine clothing, her so called 'father' had her pack male clothing for her stay and so sought to resolve this. Naruto approached Charlotte while calling out to her.

"Hey Charl-chan, hope I didn't keep you waiting,"

"Oh Naruto-kun, it's alright since I just got here myself," said Charlotte smiling happily upon seeing "I don't see Kurami, where is she?"

"Uh she got a bit grumpy so I left her with Nohotoke," Naruto shifted his eyes as he spoke, truth is that Kurami was mad and so went on her own.

"Ok then," said Charlotte, but she was happy inwardly since she gets to spend time with him alone.

After getting to the mainland via the monorail, Naruto hailed a taxi to transport to the market district and were walking through the streets though Charl was a bit confused and so decided to ask.

"Um why are we here?" she asked curiously.

"Remember when I said you would be stay with me? I was actually serious but then I recalled that you didn't pack any proper clothes no thanks to your 'father'," said Naruto with a growl at the end of the sentence.

Charl waved her hands in a mild protest "It's alright Naruto-kun, I can manage with what I have,"

"No Charl, like I said before that you can depend on others like me or you'll miss out on a lot of good. I bet there are things that you would like for yourself," said Naruto.

Charlotte looked into his eyes and could tell how much he wanted to help, making her feel a bit bad for trying to reject his help "Okay Naruto-kun, and I'm sorry for bothering you,"

Naruto simply shook his head "You aren't bothering me at all. Now come on and let's get you something to wear aside from your uniform,"

Naruto and Charlotte wandered through the district until coming upon a fancy boutique in which they entered. Charlotte was able to break out her diffidence and indulged herself in the clothes, Naruto stood and watched her browse through the many racks of clothing with a smile as she's acting more like a girl that she is supposed to be although he hightailed it out of there when she tried to bring him into the lingerie section of the shop to which she giggled at how he was unafraid to face a berserk IS but chickens out at this. Naruto retorted that he prefers to not be beaten up for being falsely alleged of perversion unlike a certain self-proclaimed super pervert with Kushina nodding in approval and Minato shaking his head as he recalled the antics of his teacher in the past. After the purchase, Naruto gave the shop the address for them to deliver the clothes to.

Naruto and Charlotte continued their walk through the district when he noticed that Charl kept throwing glances on to her right and followed her trail of sight to see a toy store with lots of dolls on display and smiled upon realizing the reason.

[Awww, she's so modest. She really wants to have fun but holds herself back, help her out Sochi-kun] said Kushina.

Naruto nodded in affirmation and came up with an idea as suddenly he led Charlotte to the toy store much to her surprise and looked at him in confusion.

"I just remembered to buy a certain toy for Sonia for when she comes to visit, you could also buy some for yourself to spice up your room," said Naruto.

"But I…," Charlotte wanted to protest yet again but her eyes on a certain toy steadily broke her will to resist "…thank you," and the blonde gave her a foxy grin which made her blush.

Naruto bought a doll set along with some hair accessories. And for Charlotte, she bought several plush toys and some bed covers among other things. Like with the boutique, Naruto used his card to pay for the purchase and told them where to deliver the purchased items.

"Since we're all done here for now, how about I take you to where the house is located," said Naruto.

"Okay," Charl replied.

Naruto called for another taxi, personally he could have used his Kitsune cycle but then he would have to unseal it from the scroll to which would draw many questions. After a short trip, they finally got and stood before Naruto and now Charlotte's new residence. She strode forward looking around in wonder at the beauty of the building, Naruto smiled at this and wondered how she would react if she saw the interior. He took her inside the building and gave her a tour of the place and felt his clones dispelling to avoid being seen by her.

"This place is amazing, how did you come across this place?" asked Charl in wonder.

"It was during one of our short breaks when I thought of purchasing a place for me to stay as well as when my parents and little sister come for visit or vacation," said Naruto.

Charlotte looked unsure of herself "Are you sure that I can with you, and that your parents won't mind?"

[Of course we wouldn't, she's more than welcome to stay with us. Just wish we could see her in person] said Kushina.

[Kushi-chan is right, she can stay here with us] said Minato.

"My parents are totally ok with you staying here us, you'll be happier here," Naruto smiled warmly at Charlotte with tears brimming at her eyes as she hugged him tightly.

"…thank you, thank you so much," Charl sobbed out.

Naruto hugged her back "You're welcome, now let's wait for the shops to deliver the your things,"

While they waited, someone was outside a distance away from the condominium and watching from the outside, the person wore an all-black military uniform with a bag and held an electronic scope device as he looked into the building. The spy looked away from the scope in confusion before peering into it, normally you could see the building but through the scope it's as if it has disappeared and there's nothing but greenery. The spy took out his radio and spoke through it.

"This is chameleon 02, I'm encountering an oddity on the target's residence like some sort of disruption device with a large coverage," said the spy.

[Copy that, maintain position and alert us if the target is alone for us to proceed with the extraction] a voice spoke on the other end.

"Roger, over and out,"

Meanwhile inside the house, there was a slight frown on Naruto's face as he felt a slight ripple of chakra from the outside. He had placed several proximity seals to detect intrusion along with disruptor tags to interfere with spying electronics of sort. Several of these tags have gone off on one part of the house.

" _It looks like someone is spying on me,"_ thought Naruto.

[Indeed, apparently some people are after you and want to find out how you were able to pilot an IS] said Minato.

[I guess there are some men that are still not content with the gender ratio, but then why not go after Ichika?] said Kushina.

[Because he has a very scary sister if the last attempt was a good enough warning to the others, but they're changing targets to Naruto]

"We might as well locate their base and to do that, I'll have to be the bait since my shadow clones would be dispelled from any rough treatment," thought Naruto.

[I don't like this, they might try to acquire your blood for who knows what like Orochimaru] Kushina protested.

[But if we don't, they might target the rest of the family] said Minato.

"Something that I'm never going to allow, might as well have a shadow clone here while I go and deal with these guys," Naruto cross his middle and index finger of each hand as he created a clone with extra chakra to stay with Charlotte and escort her back to the academy while he snuck out and was walking down the street as if unaware of anything happening.

As he walked, Naruto felt the presence of multiple men walking a distance away from him and from the sound of their footsteps, these men were trained though by his old world standards, Genins could defeat them little to no issue. He turned into an alleyway and slowed down a bit, but sure enough the group followed him in. Naruto stopped and turned around to look at them with a frown on his face.

"What do you guys want and why were you following me?" asked Naruto.

One of the men stepped forward and spoke to him "You will be coming with us Naruto Uzumaki, our leaders would like to have a word with you,"

"And what exactly it is that they want to talk to me about?"

"It's not something which could be said within open areas,"

"There's a reason why I walked into the alley for no one to eavesdrop on us, now tell me your purpose for looking for me,"

"…" the man remained silent.

Naruto uncrossed his arms and stood loosely in preparation for what is too happen "In that case, don't expect to just come along without knowing what I'm getting myself into,"

"We have our orders, one of which includes bringing you in with force," the rest of the men took fighting stances with some bringing out batons sparking with electricity.

"I would like to see you try," Naruto raised a hand and beckoned them to come and attack him to which they complied as they as charged towards him.

Naruto lashed out a hand to parry a straight punch from the first of the grunts then countered by using a palm thrust at the throat, causing him to stumble back choking and got struck in the head by a roundhouse kick. He ducked under a swing of the baton from behind and performed a low sweep kick to knock the opponent off his feet and did a handstand into a backflip as he evaded two grunts attempting a pincer attack. He sidestepped to right and punched a grunt in the head then doubled back to do the same upon another, he positioned himself in between them then jumped into the air and performed a split kick to knock them down. He stomped on a nearby shock baton to pop it into the air and kicked it while still active into the chest of an approaching grunt to electrify him. Naruto a grunt slowly getting back and charged towards him as he jumped towards a wall and kicked off it then using the momentum to strike down with a roundhouse kick.

Naruto suddenly heard a click before feeling something hit him at the back of the shoulder, he looked over to see some sort of tranquilizer dart and turned around to see a grunt holding a gun with a silencer attached to the muzzle. He felt drowsy and collapsed to the ground but was inwardly smiling at this. The grunts got up from the ground and glared at the blond for the beating he gave to them, one picked up a shock baton and was about to hit when the leader stopped him.

"No you fool, any serious damage on his body and the commander will have our asses! Let's get him into the van and back to the base, afterwards you can do whatever you want to him," said the leader.

A black van pulled up next to the entrance of the alleyway and the grunts proceeded to carry the unconscious blond into the vehicle. Unknown to them was that above on the rooftops was a shadow clone watching them, the clone quickly descended to the ground and transformed into a small gecko which scampered under the van and latched on before it drove off to its hidden base.

* * *

[Sochi-kun, are you awake?" asked Kushina worriedly.

" _I'm okay…I've been awake this whole time. My body had already gotten rid of the sedative since then,"_ thought Naruto.

[That's a relief, we have been using the satellite to keep track of where we are...and I have to say we're quite far] said Minato.

"Like how far?"

[We're on an unknown island miles away from Japan]

" _Huh…that explains the swaying feeling back then, I was transported by boat,"_

[They had tried to take us away from you and we wouldn't budge. But then they took a sample of your blood] said Kushina worriedly.

" _Well not for long, I'll be doing a lot of damage once I get myself free which is after I check around for info,"_

Naruto regained consciousness and opened his eyes to find himself bound to a metal table, next to him was a rack full of surgical tools and a man wearing a lab coat was operating a nearby computer. The man turned around and smirked upon seeing him awake before approaching.

"My my…finally awake aren't we? I've of the trouble you gave to our men, I apologize for their rudeness," said the scientist.

"I know you don't mean that, who are you and what do you want with me?" asked Naruto with a frown.

The scientist smiled in amusement "my name is none of your concern, but since you'll be here for an indefinite amount of time. I might as well tell you what our goal. Even since the arrival of the IS, the gender equality has been completely upset and women lord over us of how we're weak to them. That wench Tabane had discovered the reason the IS refused to operate for males and yet refused to resolve that issue. It was a massive blow for us and severely damaged our pride. But then you and Orimura Ichika appeared, giving us hope that we still have a chance to restore the balance and show those women what we're truly capable of when piloting an IS. But to do that, we need to discover how you're able to pilot an IS and if we can do the same for others,"

Naruto however knew better, he could see greed in his eyes and figured out this organization's true goal. Even Minato and Kushina could be heard growling in anger as well.

[Gender equality my ass, these people are nothing more than sexist bastards!] said Kushina in anger.

" _I believe we know enough to tear these people down,"_ thought Naruto.

[Not yet, stick to the main plan then we proceed with the final phase] said Minato, restraining his anger for the meantime.

"Well now, I'd best go and deliver my report to my cohorts so please don't go anywhere…though of course you can't," the scientist chortled to himself as he left the room and shut the door.

The room was silent but Naruto was looking all over the room and managed to pick out a few cameras in the corners of the ceilings, then he whispered out.

"Four cameras, corners of ceilings. Loop their recordings,"

Then there were beeping sounds to be heard from a certain part of a wall, then some sort of canvas matching the colors of the wall dropped to reveal Naruto's shadow clone. The clone quickly ran over to where Naruto is and proceeded to remove the restraints for him to sit up and flex his joints a bit.

"Sorry I took so long boss, was busy putting in the level 5 explosive tags all over the place without being seen," said the clone.

"No problem, how goes with the hacking?" asked Naruto, receiving a scroll from the clone and unsealing an outfit for him to change into a modified Konoha military uniform, a green flak jacket, a forehead protector with a long black cloth. Then he performed a minor transformation jutsu to change his hair into smooth red hair before putting on a mask depicting a fox.

"LUNA is at 80% of the data download,"

"Okay then, I'll be taking over so good job," Naruto was fully geared by then, the clone saluted before dispersing in a puff of smoke and the memories flowed into his mind "Whoa these guys are really equipped, too bad I'm going to put a massive dent on their budget…but first," Naruto created a shadow clone and strapped it back on the table, winking at each other for the nasty surprise waiting for the scientist.

Naruto exited from the room and quickly located a vent which his clone previously came through and jumped inside to traverse the area. From the memories of his shadow clone, Naruto is several levels underground and in this area are where the projects are being kept as well as their database is stored while the upper levels serves as the storage for their weapons. Suddenly he felt his S-Touch vibrate in his pouch and took it out and flipped open the screen to see that the download has finally reached a hundred percent. He looked through the information and frowned upon, apparently this organization has been stealing weaponry from all over the world not to mention data from the IS manufacturers, even seeing the data from the Dunois company which in particular didn't bother him much. But a certain information.

"A Valkyrie Project? What does go on about?" thought Naruto curiously.

[According to the data, this project is about the creation of genetically engineered humans which is superior in overall biology known as bioroids. There were up to four generations but all ended in failure due to inadequate research with the exception of the fourth being the most human of the species. The common factor about the bioroids where most of their emotions being restrained and their capability of reproduction. The originator of the bioroids had suddenly called off the project and deleted all information related and disappeared from sight, never to be heard of again. If so then why did he/she terminate the project and did they come across it?] asked Kushina after reading the information.

[I've been listening to you and come upon a theory, the creator of the bioroids must have foreseen his creations being subject to racism for not being truly 'human' as well as being used to serve as weapons] said Minato.

"Well whoever the person is, his/her fears are being realized. There has been a female bioroid created in the past and is currently mental rewriting apart from having her emotions retrained," thought Naruto as he read through the data.

[How low can these people go?! Though I wouldn't be surprised since Orochimaru would have the same thing. Hurry over there and save her!] said Kushina.

"No need to tell me twice! What a venture! Get purposely kidnapped by sexists, rescue a bio engineered girl, kick some ass, escape from an island, and have a few laughs,"

Naruto followed the blueprints downloaded into the S-Touch until he found his quarry, through the vent, he could a see a group of scientist especially one whom he recognized having a discussion with one of his cohorts while the others are typing away on a console. Further in he saw a large pod tank and inside it is a girl floating in some sort of liquid with her eyes closed and an oxygen mask on while wearing a grey bodysuit. This girl has short curly orange with a small ahoge on top that comes down to her chin, she has light skin and freckles on her cheeks, all in all she looks like a nice girl…a girl who won't be anyone's toy! He listened in on the conversation while biding his time to move in and stop this operation…permanently.

"It's simply astounding, this boy's DNA is beyond any we've ever seen before, and we're talking about an evolution beyond humanity. His body goes way beyond any limits of a bodybuilder and the blood possesses immunity to most if not all diseases known to us," said the second scientist.

"Most astounding, not only do we have the opportunity to acquire the means to pilot an IS but also to be able to create the perfect bioroid! I'll be returning to the lab and tell the young man the good news, he would be most surprised," the first scientist turned and left the laboratory with Naruto scowling before it turned into a smirk.

 _"Teme got it backwards,_ he'll _be the one getting a surprise," t_ hought Naruto, he turned his attention back to the second scientist who then spoke up.

"We will now commence with the mental rewriting,"

"Like hell you will!" Naruto punched the vent open and dove in headfirst towards the scientist who looked up in confusion before their eyes widened in fear of the unknown intruder. Naruto took out a pair of kunai with seal tags attached in each hand before throwing them into the four corners of the room an activating them via a handsign. One of the scientist made for a button on the wall to trigger the alarm when his body suddenly felt very heavy and collapsed to the floor before he could get close. But he wasn't the only one as the others fell to the ground and couldn't get back up.

He turned to look at the intruder and spoke "Who are you and what you want?"

" **Who I am is none of your business, but my reasons for being here is to shut down this place for good,"** Naruto altered his voice to sound deeper than his normal voice.

Scientist's eyes widened in shock "No, you can't do that! There's precious research here!"

" **True but your reasons for using them are messed up, you were planning to turn that girl into a weapon…something which I hate more than anything,"** Naruto chopped the scientist on the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious before doing the same for the rest. He created a few shadow clones to tie them together and had one of them use a memory erasure seal to wipe out any memory relating to the project. He typed on the console, shutting down all of the functions especially resetting the mental rewrite and enabling her true personality to resurface.

[And just in time too, good work Naruto] said Minato with pride.

" _Thanks dad,"_

Naruto approached the pod which was filtering out the green liquid, he opened it and caught her in a bridal carry before she fell over still unconscious.

"LUNA, activate the elevator and set it to the top floor and set a route to the weapons vault. Afterwards execute a full upload of the Specter Program into the system without the exorcism program…we're sending these guys back to the Stone Age," said Naruto

[Yes sir]

Naruto created a shadow clone and had him carry the girl, then they left the room but not after making sure that any existence of his DNA and such are completely destroyed. Along the way, there was a loud explosion and the ground shook, Naruto smiled upon realizing exactly what had happened. Apparently the scientist had gone and received his surprise…which is off the explosive kind, enough to attract the attention of the security around the area. Naruto followed the route on the HUD installed in the mask until he found the elevator. They climbed and he pushed a button for it to ascend towards the designated floor.

* * *

Elsewhere in a large room full of people working away on numerous computers with a large mainframe computer at the head. Watching over them was one of the main members of the secret organization wearing a military uniform, suddenly there was a loud beeping from the mainframe and the operators seemed to be panicking over some much to his confusion. So he called out to one of them.

"Hey, what's going here?" asked the militant.

"Sir! There's a viral program attacking all of our servers at the same time and erasing all of our database, not even bothering to extract the data itself!" said the operator.

The militant narrowed his eyes at the news "Then hurry up and put a stop to it before it deletes all of our information, some of them are extremely hard to come by!"

"Sir we're trying, but this virus breaking down our defenses and countering any attacks that we launch, it has just broken into our backup servers and erasing everything inside!"

The militant was stunned at everything which was happening, if all of their data is erased then there's nothing for their organization to fall back on! But the question is who did this and how where they were able to hack into their servers to upload the virus. That's when he saw the large screen go black then a single sentence in capital letters and bold font was being typed out for them to read.

 **STICK A HAND INTO A FOX'S DEN AND YOU'LL BE SURE TO GET BITTEN**

"Just who is this person responsible?" said the militant.

* * *

Back with Naruto, he and the clone carrying the girl were hiding behind some crates and watched as a group of soldiers jogged by them towards who knows where. They crept out of their temporary hiding place and continued on the route until stopping before a large metal door and a security panel to the right.

"I'm now in front of the vault LUNA, trying opening it slightly to avoid any attention," said Naruto.

[As you wish, Naruto-sama] said LUNA.

Naruto watched as the metal doors slid apart, leaving just enough room for him and the clone to squeeze through before they closed behind him. LUNA switched on the lights for them to see many rows of weaponry like jets, drones, tanks, missiles, and many more. But there was something in particular that he was looking for and he smiled upon finding it at the end of the vault covered in a brown canvas. He pulled off the canvas to reveal that it was an exotic red sports car of an unknown brand but he could tell that there was more to it than meets the eye

LUNA proceeded to explain [This is the G-6155 Interceptor, an all-terrain combat vehicle. After to the information, its predecessors were constructed by the FBI to combat against terrorist, particularly an international company known as NOSTRA and were successful in bringing about its downfall. The agency went ahead to construct an upgraded version of the vehicle, however it was then that the IS made its appearance hence discontinuing any further development of it]

[Makes me wonder how they got their hands on it] said Kushina.

"Too bad for them now, since _I'll_ be putting it into good use," said Naruto with a mischievous grin, he hacked the door for it to open. Then the clone placed the girl inside at the passenger's seat before sitting in and starting the engine which purred like a little kitten "Open the gates LUNA, we're moving out!"

[As you wish] LUNA now spoke from the console on the dashboard, the female activated the doors to reveal a squad of soldiers behind aiming their firearms at them. Naruto smirked as he slammed his foot on the pedal, causing the rear tires to screech out on the floor before shooting at an increasing speed for the soldiers to avoid getting hit by jumping out of the way. They tore down the road available to them with LUNA providing directions to the exit. Two jeeps came around from a turn and were in front while two more are coming in from behind with all four attempting to box Naruto and the girl in.

"Got any weapons which I can use?" asked Naruto.

[Bringing them online, frontal machine guns and rear weapon flamethrower] said LUNA. The bonnets on both sides of the opened as the armaments folded out into said weapons and opened fire while the exhaust pipe produced a large stream of flames from behind, destroying all four vehicles at once before Naruto performed a drift turn around a turn on a ramp which spirals upwards towards the surface. Naruto kept moving, dodging any obstacles in his way. That's when another pair of trucks flanked his sides and were about to slammed into the car. Naruto hastily scrolled through the weapons cache until he found a particular weapon and quickly activated it. The panels on both doors opened up for a pair of double barreled shotgun to protrude. When the trucks drew close, the shotguns fired a blank shot which knocked them away to crash into a wall before retracting to the door and closing up. Naruto reached the top floor and was making for the exit but he could see ahead of him that the doors were sealed shut.

"Fire the missiles, LUNA," said Naruto.

[Activating missile launcher]

The door panels opened again but this time two missile arrays were protruded before launching a quartet of ballistic missiles destroying parts of the door to create a hole big enough for the car to pass through. The soldiers were still in pursuit which took them to the edge of cliff, but instead of slowing down Naruto rather increased speed to drive right off the cliff towards the ocean below. Drawing close to the sea, the car suddenly underwent a transformation till it took on the form of a speedboat. Soon Naruto was driving across the sea and away from the island…but he was far from done with them. He performed a ram handsign to activate the explosive tags left behind, triggering a chain explosion which destroyed untold numbers of equipment.

Naruto looked through the rear view mirror and smirked to himself "Yippee Kaa yay motherfuckers,"

[Language Sochi-kun! Now let's return to the house for now and call Fabio-san down to come and take a look at this young lady] said Kushina.

"Okay, but one thing's for sure…I'm sooo keeping this car," said Naruto excitedly with Minato chuckling in amusement.

Unknown to them, the girl squirmed a bit and opened her eyes only for a moment before closing them as they rode across the ocean back to japan where hopefully things would cool down for now…although Naruto has a nagging feeling that he's forgotten something.

…

…

"OH NO! I FORGOT ABOUT KURAMI-CHAN! SHE'S GONNA BE SO MAD AT ME!"

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, true to word Naruto invited Charlotte to live with him in his new home and even paid for the clothes and other products in his stead. But then he discovers that someone's been spying on him and decides to let himself get captured only to discover that the organization is full of sexist jerks and so decided to bring them down in the worst ways possible. But along the way, Naruto rescues a genetically engineered girl from the verge of being brainwashed along to commandeering a combat vehicle for his escape and ending this whole fiasco with a big bang. Now the question is what Naruto will be doing about the mysterious girl? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out.**

 **For those wondering about the car, it is the revised G-6155 Interceptor from Spy Hunter on the 3DS/PS VITA. And the girl I gave hints in the earlier chapters about is none than….I don't really need to say it do I?**

 **Anyways** **read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	12. Vulpine Guardian and a Kinky Shopping

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 11: Vulpine Guardian and Non-Perverse Shopping**

[We're currently 3 Kilometers from the Japanese mainland] said LUNA from the interface of the dashboard of the G-6155 Interceptor which is currently in boat form as it drove through the ocean towards its marked location.

"Roger that LUNA, just a little while longer and we'll soon be back home," said Naruto, he turned towards the girl with the short curly orange hair as she laid against the seat next to him unconscious in a grey bodysuit "To think those bastards wanted to turned her into a weapon,"

[All because they were nothing more than a bunch of sexists, they deserved more than what you did!] said Kushina angrily.

[Now now Kushi-chan, Naruto pretty much destroyed everything they worked for and then some. With all of their resources destroyed and database destroyed, their organization would be forced to shut down for good] said Minato in a placating manner, to calm his excitable wife.

[Hmph] both blondes could tell that the redhead was pouting a bit and chose to be silent.

They went a little further till they saw the mainland as the G-6155 Interceptor touched the beach before transforming back into its sleek sports car form. Naruto inputted the coordinates to his home on the navigation system before stepping on the gas and making headway along the road upon entry from the beach.

"LUNA, open up a connection to dad," said Naruto.

[Yes, Naruto-sama] said LUNA, it was for a few moments before she spoke up [The connection has successfully been made]

Then they heard a loud yawn and a familiar voice spoke up [Hey Naruto, what is it that you're calling so early in the morning?] asked Fabio tiredly.

"Sorry about that Fabio-tousan, but something came up that you need to know," said Naruto.

[What is it?]

[Apparently, an organization had been spying on Sochi-kun in hopes of acquiring the means to have males pilot IS and 'kidnapped' him] said Kushina.

[What?! Are you all okay?] the tone of the voice showed how wide awake he was.

Minato then replied [We're fine, Naruto was able to escape as well as completely shut them down but that wasn't all of it] he proceeded to tell the man of the organization's goals and how Naruto had also rescued a bioroid from being turned into a mindless weapon.

[Well all I have to say is good riddance to bad rubbish, that group certainly paints males in a bad color] said Fabio.

[Couldn't agree with you more Fabio-san] said Kushina.

[So what happens now?]

"In the meantime, we'll take the girl home and wait for her to wake up" said Naruto.

[But Charlotte is also there…you would have to explain to her of what's going on] said Minato.

"Well I could pass my shadow clone off as a solid hologram for now, neither of us are ready yet for the complete truth," said Naruto, hearing a sound of agreement from the others with a hesitant one from Kushina.

It was a couple miles more but the impressive speed of the G-6155 Interceptor was able to cover the distance in half the time expected to arrive and soon he was arriving at the gates of his condominium, he had acquired the memories of the clone which he left behind with Charlotte and was aware that she was fast asleep in bed. He activated the automatic gates and parked the car in the garage, then he carefully picked up the girl and carried her to his room where he gently placed her on the bed and covered her up with a blanket. Naruto made his way to the kitchen and fixed up a sandwich with a fruit juice then returning to the room where he propped up against the wall and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

It was morning and the sun had risen to the sky with its rays shining through the window, Naruto groaned a bit from the sunlight hitting his eyes which he opened only to gaze into a pair of bright green eyes, those eyes belonged to the girl who is apparently awake and was kneeling right in front of him with an innocent smile.

"Salutations!" said the girl, Naruto let out a yelp from the sudden loud greeting and tried to move back only to bang his head against the wall, getting the female bioroid to look at him worriedly "Oh dear, I hope you aren't too hurt, are you?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain before looking back at her with a small smile to placate her worries "I'm okay now, no need to worry anymore. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, just a little headache but it's almost gone," said the girl happily.

[It appears that the mind rewrite is the reason for the headache, but stopping the process in time prevented it from getting any worst] said Minato, with Naruto nodding in affirmation.

"I'm glad to hear, by the way did those 'people' give you a name?" asked Naruto with a bit of spite on one of the words.

The girl was about to speak when her head throbbed a bit in pain and she suddenly saw flashes of some sort of memory…she saw herself talking to a group of girls, especially the one with red and black hair and silver eyes whilst wearing a red hooded cloak and introducing herself by saying her name was…

"My name is…Penny…Penny Polendina, that's my first name. I can't seem to remember the second, but it's nice to meet you though," said the girl now known as Penny.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow from the statement but responded nonetheless "Well my name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore, but you can just call me Naruto and it's nice to meet you too,"

Penny nodded happily before looking at him curiously "Can I ask what I am doing here and why I'm not in the lab?" she was a bit surprised when she saw the boy in front of her suddenly frown at her question.

"Thing was that those guys kidnapped me in order to use my DNA as a tool for their own selfish ambitions. I escaped from their cell and happened upon the lab where they were planning to rewrite your mind and make you an emotionless weapon, I wasn't going to have any of that and so busted you out of there but not before making them realize the consequences of their actions," said Naruto with a growl.

"Oh," Penny looked down at the ground sadly, something Naruto took note of and quickly spoke up.

"You don't to worry about them anymore, because now you have the freedom to do anything you want which will make you happy," Penny looked up at the blonde with hope.

"Really?" she felt elated when he nodded with a smile "Then will you be my friend?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the question but smiled nonetheless, she reminded him of when he desired for friendship to ease the pain in his heart back in Konoha and she seems to be in the same way "I believe we're already friends since we're speaking so freely like this," he didn't expect her to engulf him in hug all the while saying thank you repeatedly "Now come on, there's someone I would like to introduce you to,"

"Is the person your friend, will they be my friend too?" asked Penny.

"I'm sure she will," said Naruto.

He led her to the kitchen where he found Charlotte cooking breakfast for the both of them, she turned around with a smile which stopped halfway upon seeing Penny standing next to Naruto with a smile.

"Naruto…who is she?" asked Charlotte, Naruto flinched at the tone of her voice and knew that he better clear some things up before any problem rears its ugly head.

"Let's all sit in the living room and I'll explain what's going on," said Naruto, he guided them to the parlor, there he proceeded to tell her what had happened from his intentional kidnapping to his escape with Penny excluding the parts where he used his chakra and jutsus.

Charlotte frowned a bit but nodded in understanding "What you did was very risky Naruto, what if you weren't able to escape? Then Penny-san would have been controlled,"

"I knew of the risks which was why I took them without hesitation, my parents trained me for situations like it aside from the IS to defend against hidden opposition," said Naruto.

She wanted to say more but was unable to refute, so Charlotte decided to ask something else "So what happens now?"

[How about you enroll her into the IS Academy? She was created for just that but this time she's doing of her own free will, the regulations will prevent any possible stragglers from pulling off any fast ones to take her back] said Kushina.

[That's a great suggestion Kushi-chan, that way there will be lesser issues to deal with] said Minato.

Naruto was in agreement and so told Charlotte and Penny who were in agreement with the idea, apparently Penny had all sorts of information relating to IS inputted into her mind initially which is a bit of a silver lining in a dark cloud. After the breakfast, Charlotte leant one of her spare uniforms which suited her well before boarding the G-6155 Interceptor and Naruto drove them through the city and parked it as they took the monorail to the academy. All the while, Penny was looking everywhere and couldn't help but sometimes wander off a bit before either Naruto or Charlotte would bring her back.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't help but want to look at everything," Penny felt a bit down at causing some trouble for the two blondes.

Naruto simply shook his head to her statement "It's alright Penny-chan, it's your first time out here after all so you would be curious. I was the same way when I first ventured out of the village,"

"A village? Is that where you lived before being adopted by the Salvatores?" asked Charlotte.

"Uh yeah, that's where I originally was," Naruto berated himself for almost slipping up.

[Sochi-kun, you should be more careful with what you say] Kushina scolded her son.

"Where we're going, will I be able to make friends?" asked Penny.

"Yup, there's even a certain trio whom I'm sure you'll get along with,"

The monorail arrived at the island where they got off before making headway to the main building. The trio walked in direction of the administrative section and knocked on the door a few times before waiting until hearing Maya's voice beckoning them to come inside which they did to see Maya typing away on a holographic computer with Chifuyu standing nearby with a clipboard in hand.

"Naruto-san and Dunois-san, what brings you here and who is that girl with you? I believe she isn't a student of this academy," said Chifuyu whilst staring intently at Penny who felt intimidated and hid behind Naruto.

"Actually there's something we want to tell you and it's important that a few others should hear of it," said Charlotte.

This drew concern from Maya "What's the matter?"

Then Naruto proceeded to retell the story of what happened to him last night and how he rescued Penny along the way, again excluding certain parts. As he spoke, Maya let out a gasp of fear for the blonde for being kidnapped and was truly relieved to hear that he was able to escape. For Chifuyu, her hands clenched tightly as she was reminded of how Ichika was kidnapped too and felt a sense of satisfaction with what Naruto did to them.

Maya got up from her seat and walked towards Naruto before examining him carefully much to the blonde's surprise and blushed from how close she was to him with the others watching, feeling a little jealous even Penny pouted slightly and pulled Naruto back a bit, he was super nice to her and she's not going to let someone else take her very first friend (In this world?) away from her!

"Are you sure you okay, Naruto-kun?" asked Maya worriedly.

"I'm fine Maya-sensei, really. There's nothing to worry about," said Naruto, thankful for his healing factor…before a certain thought froze him in his tracks _"Oh crap…"_ he was snapped out of his thoughts when Chifuyu spoke up.

"With what you did, I doubt the organization will be able to bounce back. Which is why you wish to enroll Penny into the academy," then she turned towards Penny "Is that what you wish?"

Penny nodded in affirmation "Yes, I was created to be an IS pilot…but I also want to make some friends too,"

Chifuyu was deep in thought with the others watching her for a few moments before she spoke up "I see you wish to utilize the rule where students within this academy, while enrolled do not belong to any organization, country or group for Penny's safety, am I right?" Naruto and Charlotte nodded in affirmation to her statement.

"My dad is already aware of it and currently preparing the papers for her and will be sent over to you," said Naruto.

"Then we should be able to get you into the academy Penny-san," said Maya, slightly miffed at Penny grabbing onto Naruto's uniform.

"Thank you Maya-san," said Penny.

"In the meantime, Penny-san will sleep in your dorm room Naruto," said Chifuyu.

"Got it," said Naruto, then he lead Charlotte and Penny out of the room and in direction of the dormitory. Charlotte then spoke up to him.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"Well for starters, we need to get Penny some clothes among other things for her needs. I'll withdraw some money from the ATM," Naruto replied, suddenly they heard yipping and saw a fox running towards them with Naruto gulping in fear before the vixen leapt into the air to pounce on his face and began scratching at it "Ow ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Naruto-kun?!" Charlotte and Penny called out to him in alarm.

" **Where the hell were you?! Do you know how worried I was when you weren't responding through our link huh?!"** Kurami yelled at him.

" _I'm sorry Kurami, I really am! But I didn't want to worry you,"_ thought Naruto.

" **Well you did, you could have summoned me to where you were!"**

[Kurami-chan, calm down! We'll explain to you what happened before and stop attacking Naruto-kun!] Kushina yelled, causing Kurami to stop scratching Naruto and sit on his shoulder with a huff.

"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Charlotte worriedly with Penny feeling the same way.

"I'll be fine, Kurami was a little upset because I wasn't paying much attention to her," said Naruto.

"Looks to me like she wasn't very happy though," Penny spoke up.

"Yeah, anyways let's get you to my dorm room before Charl-chan takes you back to the mainland to shop for some items for yourself," said Naruto.

Penny looked excited at that "That sounds like fun, I always wondered how it was like to go shopping with another girl!"

"Naruto-san!" the group turned to see Cecilia walking towards them with a smile on her face "I was wondering when you would be returning to the academy,"

"Hi Cece-chan, I was a little busy with a few things," Naruto replied with a smile "Anyway, this is Penny-chan and she'll be enrolling in the academy,"

Penny held out her hand with a bright smile "Hello Cecilia-san, I hope we can be friends,"

Cecilia was a bit miffed if another girl is pursuing for the blonde's affection like her but placed it aside nonetheless and took her hand "I'm sure we'll be getting along just fine, _as long as you're not going after Naruto-san_ ,"

"So what's up?" asked Naruto curiously.

"I'm actually here to use that favor that you owe me," Cecilia spoke smugly for Charlotte and Penny to frown a bit at the implication.

"What's the favor?"

"As you know, we will moving to the Seaside School and so I want you to escort me to the mainland for some shopping,"

"Oh right, I almost forgot about it. I'll also be needing a few things which includes a pair of swimming trunks too," said Naruto thoughtfully.

" _Swimming trunks, that means he'll be…bare-chested at the beach!"_ thought the girls as they blushed red like a tomato at the imagination of Naruto bare physique.

"T-then I'll be waiting for you at the monorail!" Cecilia quickly walked away to make plans for the shopping date with Naruto.

" _Phooey, I would have gone with them but I need to help Penny with her shopping plus I already picked out my swimsuit,"_ thought Charlotte with a pout.

" _I wish Naruto could come with us, I'm sure it would be more fun this way,"_ thought Penny.

* * *

30 minutes later, Naruto had withdrawn money and gave it to Charlotte and Penny before heading to the monorail with Kurami on his shoulder to meet up with Cecilia. They crossed over to the other side and drove in the G-6155 Interceptor which was quite surprising for the female blonde. They soon arrived at the market district and had parked the vehicle before making their way through the shops in search of items needed for the Seaside School trip. They were descending an escalator, unaware that there was a stalker following them as she poked her head out from behind a vending machine.

"I can't believe that girl is taking Naruto-kun out on a shopping date, and she was acting so smug about it back in class. Look at her…holding hands with him and acting like a shy little schoolgirl," the stalker gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"I see you're here too," a voice suddenly spoke up from behind, the girl jumped with a start and turned around to see that it was none other Laura Bodewig.

"Laura, what are you doing here?" asked girl.

"The same reason you're here Ling, I'm following them too," Laura replied to the now revealed Ling.

"…fine, a truce then but we need to be quiet and not let them notice us," said Ling.

"Very well then,"

Back with Naruto, Cecilia and Kurami, they were doing a little window shopping…well Cecilia mostly when something caught Naruto's eye and he called out to her.

"Cece-chan, could you go on without me for a moment, there's something I would like to buy," said Naruto.

Cecilia was a little disappointed "Will you take long in buying?"

"Not that long, I'll be back soon," said Naruto then he walked off in a different direction.

A few minutes later, he was walking away from his selected destination and was making his way back to Cecilia with Kurami when he saw two people whom he was familiar with and quickly approached them before calling out.

"Yo Dan! Ran!"

Said persons turned around to his voice and were surprised to see him. Dan was ladened with shopping bags, earning the blonde's pity, having gone through the same situation and unable to use his shadow clones which made it worse while Ran behaved a bit shy at the sight of her crush's handsome friend.

"Yo Naruto, how's it hanging?" said Dan.

"H-hello Naruto-san," Ran spoke shyly.

"I'm doing great, just shopping for a few thing for the academy's trip to the Seaside School," said Naruto, he glanced over at the bags which Dan was carrying "I guess you're doing the same right?"

"Yeah, she was saying something about showing this to-Oooough!" Dan was about to say more when he was suddenly kicked backwards by Ran without warning.

Naruto flinched at that and felt sorry for the elder brother as it reminded him of when Sakura would bash him with her fists whenever he tries to impress her. Kurami growled at the memory of that pink haired fangirl who just didn't know to say no but rather physically abuse her host. Kushina was just as angry, she wished for Naruto to find a girl like her and he did only for her to beat for little to no reason at all because of how shallow she was. Back to the matter at hand, Naruto and Ran were currently in the middle of a conversation.

"Um Naruto-san, do you happen to know where Ichika-san would be?" asked Ran nervously.

"Don't really know, but I'm sure he's also preparing for the Seaside School too," Naruto replied.

Ran was a bit disappointed but perked back up "Oh! I wanted to tell you that by next year I'll be your underclassman,"

Naruto picked up on her words and realized what she meant "That means you'll be joining the IS academy soon,"

"That's right, it's my greatest wish!"

"Then do your best, I'm looking forward to seeing you at the academy," said Naruto with a foxy grin, causing Ran to titter and fight back the urge to swoon.

Naruto suddenly heard rapid footsteps heading in his direction and felt his hand being grabbed and was pulled away from a distracted Ran, he looked to see that it was Cecilia carrying a shopping bag and looked to be in a hurry.

"Cece-chan, what's the matter?" asked Naruto confusedly, but she didn't respond and continued to drag him along until they entered a boutique and into a dressing room "What's going on and why did you bring me in here?"

"That's what I like to know too," said Kurami with a slight frown.

Cecilia held a finger to her lips then quietly peeked out from behind the curtains to see Ling and Laura walk into the boutique while looking around "I should have known that they would have followed us, I must have forgot since Charlotte and Penny were going elsewhere but…" she started feeling nervous upon seeing Naruto so close to her in the small dressing room "I can't them find us like this,"

"Cece-chan?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"I-I wanted your opinion of the swimsuit which I picked out," said Cecilia nervously.

Now it was Naruto's turn to feel nervous "T-then I should wait outside for you to change," he made to leave but Cecilia grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"N-no, I don't want anyone else to see it except you," said Cecilia "What am I saying?"

Naruto's face blushed at what she said "O-okay, then I just turn around and look away while you change," he turned away and not a moment later he heard the ruffling of clothes while told him that Cecilia was currently undressing herself.

" _This is bad! I'm in a worst situation than when Pervy Sage in the hot springs!"_ thought Naruto, feeling frantic.

[You just have to endure it son, just focus on other things and never move a muscle] said Minato with a sagely voice.

" _Coming from personal experience?"_

[…yup] there was a long pause before the reply and they heard Kushina giggling at that much to Minato's embarrassment.

Meanwhile with Ling and Laura, they were looking around for Naruto and Cecilia since they had seen the duo walk into the boutique earlier before.

"Where did they go? Could it be that they had seen us following them?" said Ling.

For Laura, she was currently viewing the numerous articles of clothing hung out from the racks in display with mild interest "So all these are swimsuits huh…I didn't know there were so many," then she overheard a conversation between two girls close by.

"Let's get started and pick one," said the first girl.

"If I wear the wrong swimsuit, my boyfriend will hate me immediately," said the other.

"Even though there are a hundred other swimsuits, if you pick the wrong swimsuit it's fatal,"

It felt like a sniper took a shot at her heart as Laura suddenly felt at a loss of what to do, It is her priority one objective for her to have Naruto return her feelings so they can get married and be together forever…and now a major obstacle has surfaced before her with a single misstep resulting in an utter failure in her mission! At times like this, she will turn to the one person for advice. Laura quickly went behind a clothes rack and took out a phone to make a call.

"Clarissa, it's me. There've been unexpected developments," said Laura.

Elsewhere in Russia, inside an unknown base. The personnel comprised of women all wearing dark office clothing with a black tie and an eyepatch covering their left eyes. One of them who is answering the call has blue hair cut into an angled bob and a beret, wearing the dark office clothing with her skirt split in the center to show her legs, and an eyepatch covering her left eye like Laura.

"Second lieutenant Laura Bodewig, what's the problem?" asked the girl known as Clarissa.

"As usual, it is about Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze," said Laura with her voice placed in loudspeaker for all to hear.

"Ah the second male IS pilot from Italy, the person you're getting close to," said Clarissa as all of the girls listened attentively upon hearing the name. When they first heard of Naruto, they were quite taken with his appearance and prowess with a few feeling a bit envious of their lieutenant seeking his attention but fully supported her nonetheless.

"The same, or as you advised, my bride. The fact of the matter is we're moving to a place called Seaside School now. I am uncertain based on which criteria I ought to pick my swimsuit so I'm looking forward to your advice," said Laura.

"Roger, the Black Hare Squad stands with you as always, in this regard, what is your equipment right now?"

"A single swimsuit issued by the school,"

However that caused Clarissa to get angry and yell at her fellow lieutenant "Are you stupid?! If I'm not mistaken, the IS school issues old-school swimsuits. There's nothing wrong with them, but…I mean, seriously…,"

"Yes…?" Laura asked nervously.

"You shouldn't step into the realm of colored clothes!" Clarissa proclaimed.

"Wow, I expected no less from the vice-commander of the Black Hares! Her love of Japanese manga and anime isn't just for show!" said one of the girls in admiration.

"Then…what shall I do?" asked Laura.

"Hmph, I have a secret plan," Clarissa said this with a twinkle in her eye.

Back with Naruto, he was fighting his natural curiosity to look back though he noticed that Kurami wasn't sitting on his shoulder anymore and must have gone elsewhere. Before he could think further into this, he heard Cecilia call out to him.

"You can turn around now,"

Naruto did as told and was quite taken with what he saw, Cecilia was wearing a bright blue bikini, and the sari that's tied around her waist has a bit of elegance. The ample breasts the swimsuit emphasizes are more alluring than what one imagines. Naruto gulped nervously and his heart was practically bashing loudly against his chest. He heard a smack and Minato cried out in pain before muttering apologies in rapid fire and Kushina was growling a bit.

"So…how do I look?" asked Cecilia, looking nervous.

Naruto rattled his brain to say something…anything to respond to her question. Deciding the heck with it, Naruto chose to say what comes from his mouth naturally "All I can say is that, you look very beautiful that I couldn't think of anything else to say in order to describe it,"

Cecilia felt like she was walking on air from his words as the male blonde was behaving so awkwardly _"H-he thinks I'm beautiful, I did all this for the moment…but I'm so glad I did! Maybe at the beach, I'll display more of my beauty to really beguile him,"_ Both blondes froze upon hearing a familiar voice from behind the curtain.

"Ara, isn't it Kurami-chan? What is she doing here?" said Maya confusedly.

"Oh no, if Maya-sensei is here then that means…," Naruto's fears were confirmed when the curtains were parted to reveal Maya and Chifuyu with Kurami sitting nearby with a mischievous grin _"Darn it Kurami-chan,"_

"Naruto-kun…Alcott-san…" Maya's body shook with emotions as she barely kept them in check while frowning at them.

"What are you doing there?" asked Chifuyu with her patented glare.

Next moment, Naruto and Cecilia back in her uniform were in a seiza with Maya doing the same while giving them a serious talking to.

"…you got that? Even as classmates, you have to draw a line. A boy and girl shouldn't just go into a dressing cabin together…," Maya continued her lecture, Naruto felt like a little kid being scolded for doing something bad…which was kinda like that even if he wasn't the one who did it. Chifuyu let a sigh at all this, though she couldn't help but feel amused in all this since Naruto is a well-trained fighter and yet is currently acting like a little child before her "If you're both finished with your shopping, then I suggest that you return to the dormitory immediately,"

"Yes ma'am," both Naruto with Kurami back on his shoulder and Cecilia spoke at the same time before standing up and leaving the boutique towards Naruto's new car.

"Well at least it wasn't a boring shopping trip now was it?" said Naruto.

"Indeed it wasn't, Naruto-san. And I'm sure we'll be having more fun in the Seaside School, three days from now," said Cecilia.

"True that," then Naruto turned his attention to the vixen on his shoulder _"You led them to us didn't you?"_

" **I have no idea what you're talking about,"** said Kurami innocently.

" _Is that so? Then you should know that there will be no scratching behind the ears for a week,"_ thought Naruto.

Kurami's eyes widened upon what he was implying **"You don't mean that right? You know how much I like my ears being scratched!"** like she said, Naruto often spends his time with her and scratches her ears which she enjoys.

" _You should have thought of that before you went and led them to us,"_

" **I'm sorry Naruto, I promise to make it up to you,"**

" _And pray tell how?"_ asked Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

" **You'll find out soon enough,"**

With that said, the trio drove back to the academy where they went direction of their rooms. Naruto opened the door to Penny wearing a cute pair of pajamas and cuddling a toy sheep, she perked up upon seeing Naruto enter the room.

"Hi Naruto, are you back from shopping with Cecilia-san?" asked Penny.

"Yup, hopefully I got all that I needed and more for the trip to the Seaside School coming soon," Naruto replied with a smile.

"I'm sure it will be lots of fun and I can make more friends too so we can play together," said Penny happily.

Naruto nodded in affirmation before going to taking a bath and putting on his sleeping wear then climbing onto his bed and preparing to sleep with Kurami curling up next to him.

"I'm sure you will, goodnight Penny-chan," said Naruto.

"Goodnight, Naruto," Penny replied before both of them finally fell asleep.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto arrives at his home and later awakens to meet a cheerful bioroid who introduces herself as Penny from a strange set of memories, he then introduces her to Charlotte before taking both to the academy to enroll Penny into the academy upon suggestion from Kushina and help from Fabio, Maya and Chifuyu. Cecilia then shows up to have the whiskered blonde to escort her with an angered vixen along for the ride, not aware of a tailing Ling and Laura. Thanks to a mischievous Kurami, Naruto and Cecilia ended up getting caught in a rather odd situation by an envious Maya and Chifuyu. Will there be more hijinks in the incoming Seaside School vacation? Keep reading to find out.**

 **QUICK QUESTION: DOES ANYONE WANT TO SEE A ROMANTIC DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN ICHIKA AND HOUKI?**

 **Anyways** **read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	13. A Day at the Beach

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 12: A Day at the Beach!**

"Wake up Naruto, come on wake up!" said person felt himself being shaken awake from his bed which pretty much annoyed him as he was having strange yet good dream which involved him and the girls having lots of fun on the beach. Naruto opened his eyes to see Penny looking back at him with excitement and Kurami sitting up next to him in her fox form and letting out a cute yawn.

"*Yawn* morning Penny-chan, but isn't it a bit early for you to be awake at this time? It's a couple of hours before the scheduled departure time for the Seaside School," said Naruto as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"I can't help it, we're going to the beach today! I just know that we're going to have so much fun!" said Penny excitedly.

Naruto could only smile in understanding, Penny is happy to be able to experience things that any other girl would love to experience. One more reason to feel justified for bringing down that damned organization for good. He jumped off the bed and walked towards the bathroom to get himself cleaned up.

"That case, let's get our things ready and make sure they're all we need then wait for the others so we can meet up at the monorail. Though I can guess that you're ready, judging by the fact that you're already wearing your uniform," said Naruto only to get a beaming nod from the girl as Kurami simply shook her head in amusement.

"She really is innocent at heart," said Kurami.

"True and it kinda suits her," thought Naruto, after a couple minutes of showering, he emerged from the bathroom and quickly changed into his uniform then went to make sure that everything needed for the stay was available and nothing was left behind. Minutes later there was a knock on the door and Penny went over to open and spoke out cheerfully.

"Hi there Charl-chan, Cecelia-chan!" she welcomed said persons into the room.

"Hey there, I see you're all set for the trip," said Naruto with a smile.

"Indeed I am, Naruto-san. An elite like me must always be prepared for anything, you obviously know since you were chivalrous to escort me to the shopping district yesterday," said Cecelia while puffing her chest with pride, getting a nod of agreement from Naruto with a light blush on his cheeks upon recalling what happened yesterday at the clothing shop.

Charlotte and surprisingly Penny frowned at her with jealous "Well we're all packed up and ready here too, though I haven't seen Ling-san and Laura-san this morning though. They might be packing their things ready,"

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders "While we're waiting before being called to gather for the trip, I could make some breakfast while we wait," the girls nodded excitedly at that, Charlotte and Penny really enjoy his cooking and Cecelia has the chance to try it out. Naruto went into the kitchen and began cooking for a while before exiting it with a tray in hand which consists of toast bread, eggs sunny-side up, fruit salad, orange juice, and a pot full of tea. Naruto had to back to kitchen a couple times before the table was set, then they all settled down to eat.

"I must that your cooking is most exquisite, Naruto-san," said Cecelia, it was like she thought, he was really good at cooking like Ling said and started making plans to get him to cook more for her later.

"Thanks Cecelia-chan," said Naruto with a smile.

[It's to be expected, ramen shouldn't be the only thing you eat] said Kushina.

[She has a point there, son] said Minato in agreement.

*Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep*

The sound of beeping caught their attention and it was coming from the desk, Naruto quickly walked over to see that it was his S-Touch which was making the beeping sound. He flipped it open to see that that he's gotten some mail and quickly checked his inbox. His eyes roamed through one of them then his eyes widened in surprise before quickly closing the S-Touch and pocketing it as he quickly hastened towards his closet and brought out his rucksack much to the surprise of the girls present.

"Naruto-kun, are you going somewhere?" asked Charlotte confusedly.

"Yeah, I'm needed somewhere as soon as possible," Naruto replied.

"Does that mean you won't be coming with us?" Penny felt sad at the thought of not being able to spend time with him at the beach.

"Not exactly, I'll come to the beach the moment I'm done. That's why I'm taking my bag with me,"

Cecelia felt relieved that he would come after all…and she gets to see his soon to be exposed chest while she's at it, causing the 'prim and proper' lady to develop a small tinge of pink on her cheeks "Then I hope to see you there soon, Naruto-san,"

"You definitely will," I'll see you girls later," Naruto walked through the door with Kurami hopping onto his shoulder while waving at them.

"Bye Naruto," they waved back at him.

Naruto rushed down the stairs and was soon out of the dormitory, what he didn't notice was that Maya had taken a different path and saw him leave much to her confusion.

" _I wonder where Naruto-kun is going with that knapsack. Won't he be coming to the Seaside School with the others? Perhaps I should ask Penny-san where he's going,"_ thought Maya before continuing her walk to the dormitory.

Meanwhile, Naruto had arrived at the monorail and used it to cross over to the mainland where he quickly located the G-6155 Interceptor and quickly got in whilst tossing his bag to the backseat. He started up the engine and drove out of the parking space, soon he was speeding across the highway and overtaking vehicles. Suddenly the S-Touch started ringing again which Naruto used a voice command to answer and set it to loudspeaker.

"Hello?"

[Ah Naruto, I'm just calling to find out where you are at the moment] said Fabio.

"I'm currently on the highway and speeding towards the Tokyo International Airport. You should have simply given me a phone call about this last night, I would have been far more ready than I am now," said Naruto with a slight frown.

Fabio chuckled sheepishly [Sorry about that, I was at a meeting at the time and almost forgot about it, so I sent that email over to you]

[But still, Maria-chan could have told us too] said Kushina.

[Now now Kushi-chan, what matters is that we're informed and heading to the location] said Minato.

"And since we're on that subject, I better floor it!" Naruto pressed down hard on the pedal to send the needle on a rapid rise as the Boost function activated and the exhaust emitted blue energy while the sports car zoomed along the road, overtaking vehicles in order to reach the airport.

Back at the IS academy, everyone had gathered at the entrance of the school with their belongings in hand while Chifuyu and Maya stood in front of them with Charlotte, Penny, Ling, Cecelia, Laura, Ichika, Houki and others standing in front of the group.

"All of you should stay in line and wait until our transport arrives to take us to our destination," said Chifuyu.

One of the students raised their hand in question "I'm wanting to ask where Uzumaki-san is, I don't see him here with us,"

That caught Chifuyu's attention as she quickly glanced around for the blonde but wasn't able to find him, Maya was getting a little worried herself when Penny suddenly spoke up.

"Naruto got a call to go somewhere this morning, but he said that he'll meet us at the Seaside School soon afterwards," said Penny. The girls murmured among themselves, curious about where he went for.

"So that's why Naruto isn't here then," said Ichika.

"Then we'll be meeting him later then," said Houki.

A couple hours later, the students and teachers had boarded the bus and travelled several miles outside the city to the coastal areas where the Seaside School was situated. After unpacking their things, the students headed out to the beachside to have some fun.

"It's 11 o'clock now! Enjoy yourselves until sundown. Be sure to return to the inn in time for dinner," Maya called out to them.

"Okay!" the students responded to her before breaking into smaller groups to engage in smaller activities. One of them happen to be Nohotoke and her friends hanging out with Ichika who was looking for Houki but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, hey, Orimu, wanna play with us?" asked Nohotoke, dressed in a yellow fox's outfit.

"Let's play a game of beach ball," said one of her friends.

"Sure, let's do that. So where are we going to-" Ichika was about to say more when he felt something slam into his back and quickly climbed up to his shoulders, he looked up to see that it was Ling in an orange two-piece swimsuit riding on his shoulders "Ling, what are you doing?!"

"Whoa, I'm so high up that I can see my house from here," said Ling playfully.

"Get off Ling, are you a cat or something?"

"Hey that looks, like maybe Naruto could give me a ride too when he shows up," said Nohotoke excitedly at the thought of it.

"You're right, Naruto is much taller than Ichika," said her other friend.

Ling frowned a bit at what they said "Tch, maybe I shouldn't have done this. Now they'll be going after Naruto when he shows up,"

A certain distance away, Cecelia sat underneath the shade of an umbrella which she brought along and sighed boredly "Haaaah, I wonder if Naruto-san is on his way here by now. I was hoping to get him to do something for me," she glanced to the side to look at a small bottle of sunscreen then rested her head on her propped up knees. Suddenly her ears picked the sound of a car engine which she's familiar with, making her perk up with a wide smile.

Apparently Penny who was running along the crashing waves also recognized it as she happily turned towards the incoming source of the sound and spoke up happily "Naruto-kun is coming!" what she said caught the attention of the others as they looked to see a red sports car drive down the street before slowing to a stop. The door opened and Naruto came out then smiled upon seeing the others down at the beach.

"Hey everybody!" said Naruto happily.

Ling jumped off Ichika's shoulder and ran over to him "Naruto, where've you been all this time?"

"I got a call from my dad to go and pick someone up from the airport," as he spoke, the door on the other side of the car opened and someone walked out of it then went to stand next to him. She is a young brunette wearing a yellow light loose sleeveless summer dress with a wide neckline and thin shoulder straps that expose the arms and shoulders, and a hat with a broad brim "This is my little sister Sonia Salvatore, she came over to stay with me while on her school vacation,"

Sonia waved at them excitedly "Hi!"

Penny had already arrived and was looking at Sonia joyfully "She looks so cute!"

Sonia puffed her chest up with pride "Of course I am! I have to be since my big brother is handsome before I eventually become a beautiful woman like you girls!"

"What the heck are you saying Sonia-chan?!" Naruto looked at his little sister in shock of what she just said.

"It's the truth big brother, a lot of my classmates kept requesting that I set you up with them whenever you come to take me home from class…and they still do,"

[Strange…I never had anything like that happening to me back at the academy] said Minato confusedly, Kushina was currently fidgeting at his statement, she can't mention that she was the reason for the girls not asking him out as she both threatened and beat the intention out of them so she could have him to herself. Uzumakis are loyal…and secretly territorial about certain things like ramen and loved ones.

" _ **Heh, goes to show how much Kushina loves Minato, though it took a kidnapping for the dense baka to act on his feelings,"**_ thought Kurami amusedly.

Sonia grabbed Naruto by the hand and started pulling him "Come on big brother, you can't go playing in the beach with your uniform on. Let's go change!"

"Okay okay, let me get the bags out of the car first," Naruto went to pick up the bags "We'll be back in a couple of minutes, don't start without us!"

"We won't!" Penny replied cheerfully.

Soon enough, they heard Naruto's voice call out to them "Okay guys, we're done changing!" they turned around to see Naruto wearing orange swimming trunks and a tropical shirt which is unbuttoned to expose part of his bare chest. Next to him was Sonia wearing a pink two-piece swimsuit with frills and holding a pool floatie ring around her waist with Kurami sitting on her shoulder. All the girls stared at Naruto in awe, his chiseled chest and muscular arms …not to mention his skin tone in major display without the school uniform getting in the way is something they'll forever engrave into their minds.

"Amazing…he looks so…so…handsome isn't a good enough word for it!" thought Cecelia, suddenly indecent images flowed into her for the shake her head rapidly to forget them…but they were persistent in appearing.

"Wow, he's so hot…wanna pounce him right now!" thought Ling as a pair of cat ears and a tail appeared while she leered at an unaware Naruto.

Charlotte had seen him bare-chested before but it doesn't change the fact that her heart is racing fast at the sight of him.

"Okay, now that we're here, what game are we…hey where's Sonia-chan?" Naruto started looking around for his little sister.

"Hey Naruto, she's over there!" Ichika called out whilst pointing for him to see her close to Cecelia. Meanwhile Sonia was staring rather intently at Cecelia who was beginning to feel very uncomfortable about this.

"U-um…can I help you?" asked Cecelia nervously.

Sonia seemed to not hear as she kept on gazing at the increasingly nervous female blonde, suddenly she broke into a happy smile…then the next thing they knew, she went down on one knee and held her hand out to her like a man proposing to a woman "You're a keeper…so please take of my brother!"

…

…

…

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!" everyone yelled in surprised, Ichika's jaw dropped at what he just heard, Cecelia's face was full on red, Charlotte, Ling and Penny felt depressed at this.

[How cute, Sonia-chan is serving as Sochi-kun's matchmaker] Kushina giggled with glee.

[I rather believe that Naruto is feeling very embarrassed right now] said Minato with a look of pity

"Sonia-chan, what the hell are you saying?!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards them.

"He studied very hard at school and has a great future ahead of him, but mom, dad and I can't look after him forever, so he needs a dependable wif-" Sonia was suddenly scooped up and slung over Naruto's shoulder.

"Sorry about that Cecelia-chan, I'll deal with her!" said Naruto with an embarrassed blush before quickly running off with Sonia in tow.

"He added chan to your name, please think about it!" Sonia called out as she's being carried away.

" _She approves of a relationship with her brother, my chances are higher now!"_ thought Cecelia happily.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Naruto as he walked.

Sonia pouted while being carried "Well it is my duty as your sister to help you get a good wife and sister-in-law at this time of age for you,"

"I can do fine by myself!"

"…no you can't…" Sonia replied in a deadpanned expression.

"I think you need to cool off!" Naruto reached the beachside and tossed her into the shallow part of the sea "Now you remain here and think about what you did!"

"Jeez, you're such a meanie!"

"I can't believe that girl," Naruto grumbled as he walked back to the others "Sorry about that, I don't know what came over her to say those things,"

"It's alright, hey! Let's have a swimming race, the first one to reach the buoy and back wins while the last person treats us all to shaved ice," said Ling.

"Sounds like fun, I'm in!" said Naruto with a smirk.

"Me too!" said Penny happily.

"Same here," Charlotte wanted to join in too.

"Alright then, on your marks…get set…GO!" Ling called out slowly before starting the race as everyone ran towards the water and started swimming as fast as they could. So far Naruto is in the lead with Ling in second but Penny was slowly catching up with Charlotte right behind her. They soon reached the buoy and raced back with Naruto still in the lead, Penny now in second place with Ling now in third and Charlotte in fourth place.

"I win!" Naruto cheered out loudly as he climbed back to the beach happily.

"Wow Naruto-kun, you're very fast!" said Penny as she approached him with Charlotte behind her.

"I'll say, should have known that we would be no match for you," said Charlotte a bit tiredly.

"Guess this makes Ling the one to treat us to some shaved ice then…speaking of which, where is she?" asked Naruto, noticing said person isn't with them.

"I saw she was right behind me…you don't think…" Charlotte spoke with a growing fear in her heart, they all quickly turned around and saw no trace.

" **Naruto! I'm sensing panic from Ling's emotions!"** said Kurami worriedly.

"Ling!" Naruto quickly dived back into the water and swam at his true speed, there he saw Ling grabbing her left leg and quickly realized that she's having a cramp, making him swim even faster to reach her. Naruto wrapped an arm around Ling's waist and quickly made for the surface. Despite feeling faint, Ling could feel Naruto's arm and felt safe within it…however she couldn't help but think she saw Naruto slightly radiating a blue aura or it was her currently poor vision. Naruto got back to the beach and placed Ling carefully on the sandy ground with the others gathering in concern.

"Ling, are you okay?" asked Ichika worriedly.

Ling coughed a few times to expel any water left in her before responding "…I'm fine now, thanks to Naruto-kun," she smiled warmly at the blonde.

"I'm just glad you're okay Ling-chan, you really had us worried for a moment," said Naruto, feeling relieved.

"Big brother is so cool! He's like a superhero to save her like that!" said Sonia cheerfully.

" _That he is,"_ thought most of the girls, looking back on the past events.

"You're still unwell are you Ling-san? In that case, I'll escort you back to the inn!" said Cecelia worriedly.

Ling blinked in confusion "Eh? But I said that I'm okay now,"

However she was ignored as Cecelia turned towards a girl next to her "Takatsuki-san, can you please help for a bit?"

"Okay understood, I'll help you!" said girl cheerfully.

"Eh?" next thing Ling knew was that she's grabbed by the arms and being dragged away much to her surprise "Wait! I said I'm fine already! Naruto-kun, Ichika! Help me!"

"Well, she's fine if she's so energetic…" said Ichika cluelessly.

"I don't think I wanna get involved with that," said Naruto, Minato nodded in agreement. That's when they heard a familiar voice.

"Then you are Naruto,"

"Oh hey there Laura-AAAAHH!" Naruto turned only to scream upon seeing what appears to be an Egyptian mummy looming over him, but then he immediately recognized the silver hair which is tied into twin ponytails and the eyepatch "Laura-chan, is that you underneath those towels?"

" **Hahahahaha! It may not be a prank but she definitely got you!"** Kurami rolled about in laughter with Kushina joining in.

" _She just caught me by surprise!"_ thought Naruto, seeing her wrapped up like that reminded him of that mummy movie…scary stuff.

Charlotte walked up next to Laura with a giggle at what transpired and prodded the silverette "Come on! It's okay if you show it to Naruto-kun!"

"…I-I have yet to decide if it's okay or not…" said Laura nervously, which is a first for Naruto to see her act like that.

"But you put it on immediately when we came, don't you want Naruto to see?"

Laura fidgeted around a bit, still feeling unsure of herself "Wait, this is something I have to be mentally prepared for…"

"Oh so you're okay if me and Naruto have fun together on the sea without you?" Charlotte asked rather slyly.

That seemed to have gotten the silverette's attention "That…that's no good!" then she took off the towels to reveal her wearing a navy blue two-piece swimsuit with bows at both sides and the black garter belt on her left thigh being her IS in its Closed Form, she shyly looked away from the others "If you want to laugh, go ahead,"

"There's nothing funny about this outfit, right Naruto?" asked Charlotte.

"She's right Laura-chan, why would I laugh at you when you look as cute as a button," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

Laura let out a squeak and began poking her index fingers together with a tinge of pink on her cheeks, making her from Naruto's perspective even cuter "I-is that so…I am…cute…that's the first time anyone said that to me,"

[Awww, look at her…makes me want to grab her and cuddle all day long] said Kushina with a squeal, Minato had to calm her down before she went overboard.

That's when one of Nohotoke's friends called out to them with a volleyball in hand "Hey guys, let's have a game of beach volleyball!" then she tossed the ball over to Naruto who caught it.

"Sounds like fun, what are the team lineup?" asked Naruto then he was suddenly glomped by Nohotoke and strangely enough the tail of her costume was wagging.

"I wanna play with Naru !" said the girl excitedly, causing Charlotte to glare at her with jealousy and Laura was staring into the distance with a dazed look on her face.

"Then I'll be joining too!" her friend spoke up.

"I guess it's me, Charlotte and Laura then," said Ichika.

A couple minutes later, the group and were standing at the volleyball court on the beach with Naruto, Nohotoke and her friend on the left side, and Ichika, Charlotte and Laura on the right side. Everyone else were standing around and cheering both sides on with Sonia being the loudest.

"Big brother, do your best!" shouted Sonia, getting a nod of affirmation from the blonde as he flexed his arms around.

Nohotoke's friend stood at the ready with the ball in hand and a smirk on her face "Heh Heh, I am also known as the July Summer's Devil…here we go!" she tossed the ball into the air then spiked it across the over the net to the other side of the court.

"Let it to me!" Charlotte dove forwards and knocked the ball into the air before it could touch the ground.

"Nice one, Charlotte-san!" Ichika jumped up and spiked the ball towards the other side of the court.

Nohotoke started panicking upon seeing the ball heading towards her "Awawawawa…ei!" she closed her eyes and thrust a sleeved arm out for the ball to get knocked back and cheered happily at doing so.

"Nice one Nohohon-chan, my turn to attack!" Naruto dashed forward and jumped to spike the ball back at the opposing team with it flying towards Laura…but there was a little problem.

"He called me cute…*sigh*" Laura was still dazed!

"Laura!" Ichika called out in alert, only to be too late as the ball smacked her right in the face and was knocked down to the ground. Ichika and Charlotte quickly ran over to see if she was alright "Laura, are you okay?"

"What's the matter?" asked Charlotte worriedly, she struggled to hear her mumble out something.

"I…I was told that I am cute…gau…" said Laura with a dopey smile on her face.

"Could it be that you were still blushing?" said Charlotte with a sweatdrop.

Naruto then ran up to them and knelt down to Laura with a look of concern "Laura-chan, are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you…honest,"

Blood rushed up to her face and her heart was beating rapidly as Naruto's face drew closer to hers, so she did what seemed to be the next course of action "KYAAAAAAAA!" she dashed right into the seas much to his confusion.

"Uh…I wasn't her to react like that," said Naruto.

"Will she be okay?" asked Ichika.

"I think it's okay if you leave it be," said Charlotte with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh you're all playing beach volleyball, it looks like fun!" they turned towards the voice to see that it was Maya dressed in a lemon-green two-piece swimsuit, Naruto had to admit that she really looked beautiful in it.

"Ah Maya-sensei, would you like to join us?" asked Charlotte politely.

"Yeah, how about it, Orimura-sensei?" Maya turned towards said person with the others following suit.

Naruto and Ichika let out a gasp upon seeing her in a black lacey two-piece swimsuit with a pair of sunglasses from the upper portion of the swimwear.

"Whoa, Orimura-sensei looks just like a supermodel!" said one of the girls.

"How cool," said Naruto.

"Shall we play?" asked Maya.

"Fine then," Chifuyu spoke in affirmation.

Ichika and Naruto were really finding it extremely difficult to look away from Chifuyu as well as the feeling of awkwardness coming over them, not making any easier. The girls noticed and felt jealous at that.

"Could it be that Orimura-sensei is your type?" asked Charlotte.

"N-no way! You're wrong about that!" Naruto spoke in denial.

"Y-yeah! It's nothing like that!" Ichika was in agreement.

"You two are absolutely perfect!" they turned round and Naruto's jaw dropped upon seeing Sonia standing before Maya and Chifuyu, and realized what she's about to do "Which is why I've decided to make this request that-"

"No! don't say it Sonia-chan!" Naruto cried out in dismay, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"-you take care of my beloved brother for me as his dependable wives," Sonia continued, the reactions were quite interesting as Maya blushed bright red and recalled how he held her in his arms during the IS training session back at the academy and the image of them getting married almost made her faint. Chifuyu was taken aback from the young girl's sudden, no man has ever had the guts to ask her out, and yet here is someone's sister asking for marriage in his stead…yup, definitely unexpected.

Said person was currently on his hands and knees, mumbling something about what he had done wrong to deserve this kind of embarrassment from his little sister, Kushina was busy cheering her surrogate daughter on in her quest to spoil some grandbabies while Minato could only bow his head in condolence for his son's current situation.

10 minutes later, the volleyball game resumed where it had left off only this time Ichika, Charlotte and Maya were facing off against Chifuyu, Naruto and Nohotoke. The game was fun and fast paced with Naruto and Chifuyu showing great teamwork but the opposition were no slouches either but in the end, it was Naruto's team emerging the winner. Though there were a few mishaps like Cecelia chasing Ling with both bumping into Chifuyu…namely her chest, and got scolded badly, Sonia kept on playing the matchmaker with every girl and Naruto was at his wits end but he had fun with everyone else, but he had the feeling that something was missing though. At the moment, he was at a shop close to the sea and buying two coolers full of popsicles for the others (With his black card), he was just about to pick them up and leave when a voice spoke up from behind.

"Dude, that's a lot of ice cream you got there. They for a party or something?" said a male voice, Naruto turned to see that it belonged to a guy with dark brown hair which is spiky with crimson red highlights on the front and sapphire blue highlights on the sides above the ears, he wears a blue tropical shirt and black shorts with brown flip-flops. Needless to say, he has a unique appearance.

"No really, my classmates and I are having a seaside school here. I offered to buy for them to cool off from the heat of the sun," said Naruto.

"That's pretty nice of you, almost forgot to introduce myself. My name's Suzaku Kallen Pendragon, nice to meet you," said Suzaku as he held a hand out which Naruto took and shook with a smile.

"Same here, the name's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze Salvatore. I gotta get going though, can't keep the others waiting you know?" said Naruto.

"It's cool, plus my parents own a summer house a bit further from here. So we can meet up some time," said Suzaku.

"Alright, I'll see ya around then," Naruto picked up the coolers and left the shop with Suzaku waving goodbye.

"…we'll definitely meet again cause I want to sate this curiosity of mine. Which is stronger? An IS…or a Knightmare? I feel the conclusion will be most interesting," said Suzaku with a smirk.

Later on as the sun sets to mark the ending of a long and fun day, we find Houki who had been seen all day standing at the edge of a cliff looking at the sun when she heard footsteps approaching her.

"So that's where you were, what are you doing?" asked Chifuyu as she walked up next to Houki.

"Ah Chifuyu…Orimura-sensei," Houki stammered a bit.

"You seem to be restless, is something worrying you?"

"That is…" Houki couldn't say anymore.

"Is it about Tabane? The other day, I tried to make a contact. It seems it's unrelated to Laura's VT system,"

"I see,"

"Tomorrow is the 7th of july, maybe she'll show up,"

Houki nodded in affirmation as she recalled the conversation she had on the phone with her sister some time ago before the Seaside School with her words echoing in her mind.

"Of course, I have prepared one. Top-of-the-line and also non-standard. And it's even a match for the white one! And the name of the machine is…"

"Akatsubaki," said Houki with eyes full of determination.

Over at her hidden base, Tabane was happily putting the finishing touches on a red IS before preparing to place it in storage for transport, nearby was one of the monitors displaying Naruto's class having with a being mostly focused on Naruto himself during his hijinks and when he was playing volleyball with the others.

"There, I'm almost done! I can't for tomorrow to come soon, I get to meet Ikkun, Houki-can, Chi-chan and most of all Naru-kun! I can finally get to see him purr!" said Tabane excitedly before returning to her work for the next day.

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest, the day of the trip to the Seaside School had finally come and everyone was getting ready, especially Naruto who was woken up early by Penny. He then got called away to pick up a surprise guest who turned out to be his little sister Sonia whom he then brought along to the trip (and was later embarrassed by her). Everyone had fun with some incidents here and there, but the questions are who's this guy that's interested in Naruto and his IS, and what's this about a Knightmare? And Tabane is about to show herself with an IS for Houki? Just what is going to happen next? Keep reading to find out.**

 **Anyways** **read and review as always.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	14. A Bunny and the Red One

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 13: A Bunny and the Red One**

After a whole day of fun on the beach, the night finally came and everyone made their way back to the inn for a short rest in the hot springs and changed into the yukata provided for them to wear. Later on, the students went to the dining room which were divided into two sections, ones with chairs for the more foreign students and another being cushions for those more attuned to sitting in seiza. At the moment, Naruto was sitting in seiza along with the others except for his sister sitting at the section with chairs and having fun chatting with the other girls though he is inwardly wishing that she doesn't try playing matchmaker here either.

Naruto turned his attention back to his meal which is of Japanese recipe and was rather enjoying it as he ate, it may not be ramen but it still taste pretty good. Kurami was enjoying her meal as well and had surprised everyone a bit when she picked up her bowl and went to eat close to Naruto, but simply concluded it to her being attached to the blonde IS pilot which they found cute.

Naruto took a small speck of wasabi and placed it on a piece of sashimi then picking it up and dipping it on some soy sauce before eating it "Man it taste good, especially with the wasabi!"

[You better eat healthily Sochi-kun] said Kushina, being quite the mother hen at the moment, while Minato simply watched with a soft smile. There were times he wished that the Uchiha had never attacked that fateful night, he was pretty sure things would have been different and more joyful as a family then but this was just as good.

" _I know that Kaa-chan,"_ Naruto replied mentally, he glanced to the side at where Charlotte was sitting next to him and his eyes widened at what she was about to do. Charlotte was holding a large bit of wasabi paste with her chopsticks and about to eat it, his ninja instincts took over as he moved with blurring speed to intercept and snatch the wasabi before it drew any closer to her.

Charlotte blinked a few times in confusion and looked to see Naruto holding the wasabi in his chopsticks with a look of relief on his face "Why did you do that Naruto?"

"I don't know if you're aware, wasabi has a very strong pungent smell and can be very painful to the nose if eaten in large amounts. I was an unfortunate victim when I was younger and don't want you to experience that," said Naruto, placing the wasabi back on Charlotte's plate although said person looked a bit frightened of it "Just add a tiny bit whenever you're eating with it,"

"O-okay Naruto," Charlotte reached for the wasabi hesitantly before realizing something, Naruto used his chopsticks to take the wasabi from her which means…her cheeks tinged pink at the implications on her mind.

Naruto was about to resume eating his meal when he heard some mild groaning from his left and turned to see Cecelia sitting next to him but squirming around a bit as she was trying to sit in the seiza position and having problems with it.

"Cecelia-chan, are you doing okay?" asked Naruto with concern.

"I'm okay, there's no problem," said Cecelia assuredly.

[It's rather obvious that this is the first time she's sitting that way] said Kushina.

"If you can't sit in the seiza position, we can always move to the table you know?" said Naruto.

"It's no problem at all, I'm fine really," Cecelia smiled to hide the discomfort _"I've gone through a lot of trouble to win this seat anyway,"_ she recalled the race for the seats on either side of Naruto with her and Charlotte barely acquiring them.

Naruto wasn't entirely convinced in the least bit, he could see that Cecelia was struggling to keep her balance and at times would slip. This problem would definitely make eating very difficult for her, his natural and automatic desire to help took over as he spoke up.

"If you'd like, I can feed you. I did the same for Charl-chan when she-" Naruto felt a palm clamp on his mouth to stop him from speaking, he looked back to see that it was Charlotte with a look of panic.

"Naruto-kun, you're not supposed to mention that!" she whispered into his ear, Naruto shuddered a bit from her breathing so close.

"Oh sorry,"

"Really?!" both looked back to see Cecelia looking at Naruto with sparkles in her eyes "Will you really feed me?!"

"Uh…" Naruto sweatdropped at her excited reaction.

"I really wouldn't want to leave any food on my plate!" Cecelia picked up her chopsticks and held them out to Naruto take and use to feed her.

[You can't back out of this now son, best go ahead and feed her] said Minato.

Naruto sighed mentally but he wasn't really bummed about it, he took the chopsticks with smile "Very well then, we'll start things off with some sashimi,"

"Okay, can I have some wasabi with it too?" Cecelia requested happily.

"Sure," Naruto placed a bit of the wasabi on a thin slice of raw fish before dipping it into soy sauce then he held it out to her "Okay, now open your mouth and say 'aaah',"

"Aaaah," Cecelia opened her mouth and ate the food, Naruto couldn't help but think that she was being pretty cute at the moment, he heard a huff and glanced to see Kurami looking away while pouting with jealousy and she wasn't the only one as Ling, Charlotte, Laura, Nohotoke and even Penny weren't too happy with Naruto paying such attention to Cecelia. The others were much more vocal about it.

"That's not fair at all Cecelia!"

"I can't believe Uzumaki-kun is feeding you!"

"That's so sneaky of you!"

*Slam!*

At that moment, the sliding door was suddenly opened to reveal an annoyed Chifuyu dressed in a yukata as well, her presence was far more than enough to silence everyone. Naruto was pretty sure that this beats Iruka's signature big head jutsu anytime.

"Can't you all just eat quietly?!" said Chifuyu then she looked at Naruto "I prefer that you do not cause any more trouble, it will be bothersome if things aren't quiet,"

"Okay, sorry about that," said Naruto apologetically, Chifuyu nodded in approval before closing the door, enabling everyone to let out a sigh of relief "We'll pick up where we left off then,"

"Oh okay," said Cecelia with a smile on her face, Sonia had noticed a lot of things with a twinkle in her eye and is already making plans. A chill crawled up Naruto's spine as he felt something unexpected is soon going to happen.

Sometime later after dinner, everyone had returned to their assigned rooms with Naruto and Sonia sharing a single room. At the moment, Naruto was typing in a few things on his laptop while was laying on the futon with a look of boredom and Kurami was sitting on Naruto's shoulders with a tail wrapped around his neck.

"Naruto-niichan, I'm so bored," Sonia whined a bit.

[She's so easily bored] said Kushina fondly.

"Just give me some more time to finish this mod for Dot-Phasor, then we can move into more fun stuff before going to bed okay?" Naruto turned his attention back to the screen which was currently displaying a 3D blueprint of some sort of craft which is affiliated to one of his IS. He typed a little more for a couple of minutes before finally saving the file securely and turning off the program "There I'm all done now, so want is it you would like us t-"

*Knock knock*

They both heard someone rapping on the door, so Naruto got up and went over to open it only to be surprised to see that it was Ling.

"Ling-chan, what brings you here?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"Well Sonia-chan invited me to come and play with you two after dinner," Ling replied.

"This the first time I'm hearing this, but you can come in though," Naruto stood aside for her to pass through, he hardly took about five steps when someone was knocking on the door again and this time it was Charlotte followed by Penny and Nohotoke "What brings you guys here too?"

"Well we wanted to come and hang out you and Sonia, and what do you mean by 'too'?" said Charlotte before asking the question.

"Apparently, Sonia-chan had invited Ling to come over and hang out with us," Naruto explained.

"Then we'll be coming in too! It gets more fun with friends!" said Penny happily with Nohotoke nodding in agreement.

They were about to enter when two more being Laura and Cecelia came round the corner and headed towards them.

"Let me guess…you wanted to hang out in my room?"

"Quite astute of you to say, Naruto," said Laura with a small smile on her face.

"I hope it isn't too much trouble for you," said Cecelia.

"Nah, it's no trouble at all so come on in," Naruto got them inside the room which thankfully has sufficient space to fit them all in, the girls were glaring at each other for trying to get ahead of the other. Kurami noticed that Sonia was smiling with a hidden look of mischief which she often sees on Naruto whenever he was planning something.

" _ **So she was the one who gave them the idea of coming here, and I was hoping to spend time with him in my human form too,"**_ Kurami pouted as she sat down and watched.

"So what were you guys planning to do tonight?" asked Ling curiously.

"Well Sonia-chan and I were planning on playing some video games after I was done with the tune-up of my Dot-Phasor. But since you are here too, I might as well set it up for multiplayers," said Naruto.

Naruto got up and went over to the closet then rummaged through his bags for a few minutes before returning with two boxes. He took out a PS4 console with four wireless controllers and set them up on the table with the cables connected, he opened the second box to take out a small blue cube which is a personal invention of his as he connected two cables from the console to it and tapped a few commands into the panel, then Naruto turned on the power for the cube to project four holographic screens from each side.

"Now that we're all set up, which game do you think we should start out with? I got some good ones here," Naruto took out a large stack of game discs from the box for the girls to choose one of them.

"Before that, could you get some drinks and snacks before getting started on the game?" asked Sonia.

"Good idea, I'll be right back," Naruto got up with Kurami hopping onto his shoulder as both left the room.

"Now that they're gone, we can get down to business," said Sonia with a smirk.

"What do you mean by that? Didn't you just invite to come over and play with you and Naruto?" asked Ling, though she can't help be feel a little nervous with how Sonia was looking at them with a twinkle in her eye.

"You guys would have come even if I didn't invite you, I can tell that all of you like my big brother," said Sonia knowingly, all the girls began to blush tomato red…this supposedly younger sister of their crush purposely brought them together on this subject "I wasn't just playing on the beach today, I was able to pick out those who really liked him and would be jealous whenever he gives someone else his attention instead of them. So far I picked out eight with you amongst them,"

"This girl is rather frightening, to be able to pick us out like that," thought Laura, feeling like putting her guard up from here on.

"She really is Naruto's sister," thought Charlotte with a sweatdrop.

"Who are the remaining two that like Naruto? I already have enough competition as it is!" Cecelia whined mentally. The rest were sharing similar thought akin to the first three about how smart Sonia is and who were the other two that like Naruto too.

"So what is it you like about my brother?" asked Sonia, getting looks on confusion from the girls so she further explained "He's hardworking, cheerful, supportive, kind, forgiving and very protective. He's also good at cooking, an inventor, and a strong fighter…all in all he's quite the package for many guys," the young girl looked at them with a playful grin "So, do you want him?"

"Can we?!" Cecelia and the girls asked in high hopes.

"…Sure, I like you too, but you have another hurdle to overcome and that is our parents whom you have to seek approval from," said Sonia, receiving nods of affirmation from the girls.

It was at that moment when Naruto and Kurami returned with a large bag of soft drinks and snacks as requested by Sonia, both tilted their heads in confusion at how the girls were paying rapt attention to Sonia but shrugged it off as probably some girl stuff and so called out to them "Hey everyone, I'm back with the stuff!"

"Good to hear, let's hunker down and play this one!" said Ling while holding out a CD case with the title 'Need For Speed Rivals' on it.

"Good choice, been wanting to sharpen up on my gaming skills for a while now," Naruto smirked in response.

Sure enough, everyone settled down to play the game. It was a given that Naruto was already a pro gamer but it came as a surprise to many that Laura, Charlotte and Penny are just good in gaming like him so it were several close races as they played further. Next game to be played was 'Tekken 7' and played a tournament which ended up in the competitors betting favors with the exception of Naruto who asked why but only received silence and blushed cheeks so he shrugged it off. Afterwards, the group had a Co-op play in the game 'Overwatch' with the players rotating for each mission and ended climbing up the ranks online because of that, last game to be played was 'Monster Hunter: World' before finally deciding that it was time for bed. So Laura and the others bid Naruto and Sonia goodnight before returning to their rooms.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up and went outside for a little while leaving Sonia and Kurami behind to continue sleeping. He walked through the inn and was taking in deep breaths of the fresh air from the sea nearby with a look of relaxation, Naruto went round the corner and saw Ichika walking about too.

"Yo Ichika, how's it going?" asked Naruto.

"Going well, just thought to walk around a bit and have some fresh air," Ichika replied with a smile.

"Same here, how about we go together?"

"Sure,"

Both male IS pilots resumed their walk through the inn until passing along an open pathway where they saw Houki squatting down and looking at something, the duo felt curious and went over to see what she was looking at. There they saw what appears to be a pair of pink/white/black robotic rabbit ears and there was a small sign which said 'Please pull them out '

"Um Houki, could this be?" asked Ichika, Naruto noticed that he looked to be rather familiar with this.

"I have no idea, don't ask me," Houki responded stoically, then she stood and walked away.

"Hey, you're not really leaving them there are you?" asked Ichika confusedly.

"Sounds to me that both of you are familiar with those things on the ground," said Naruto.

"*Sigh* yeah, at least I have a good clue about it,"

"What are you two doing?" Cecelia walked up to the duo with a look of curiosity.

"Well Ichika is just about to pull those rabbit ears from the ground," Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Ichika squatted to reach for the ears and pulled a bit too hard to end up falling on his butt, at that moment Naruto's ears picked up sounds similar to that of a jet turbine and it was getting louder by the second, he looked up only for his eyes to widen in shock as something seems to plummeting from the sky towards their position! Naruto quickly reached out to grab Ichika by the back of his yukata's collar and pulled him back to avoid getting hit in time before the object crashed to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. The teens looked through the dust to see…a giant metallic carrot?

[What the heck is a giant metal carrot doing, falling from the sky?] asked Kushina in disbelief.

[I think we're about to find out] said Minato.

Right after he spoke, there was a girlish laughter from within the giant carrot which then split apart with a loud hiss and steam emerged before fading away to reveal a woman with a curvaceous figure, big breast and long purple hair reaching to her hips. She also wears a pair of robotic ears similar to the ones Ichika is currently holding and a frilly maid-like blue and white dress.

"You cheated, Ikkun ," said the woman cheerfully, Naruto immediately recognized the voice from the phone calls up till now

"Could she be?" thought Naruto.

"…long time no see, Tabane-san," said Ichika with a deadpanned expression.

"She really is Tabane Shinonono,"

"Yup yup, long time…a really really long time," Tabane happily hopped out of the pod like a rabbit before turning her attention to Naruto who felt a little uncomfortable with the large amount of attention placed on him, next thing he knew was that he was glomped by the excited woman "And I'm soooo glad to finally meet Foxy-kun "

"What?!" Cecelia was flabbergasted and jealous at the sight of a woman hugging Naruto out of the blue like that.

"By the way Ikkun, where's Houki-chan?" asked Tabane hopefully.

[I recall that Houki is her sister] said Minato thoughtfully.

"Um er…," Ichika didn't know what to say.

"No worries, I'll find her with my Houki-chan detector," Tabane let go of Naruto and took the robotic rabbit ears from Ichika "See you later, Ikkun! You too, Foxy-kun!" she waved at them before scampering away.

"Ichika-san, who was that just now?" asked Cecelia after a moment of silence.

"Shinonono Tabane-san, Houki's sister," Ichika replied.

"Eh?!" Cecelia looked shocked upon hearing that, she wasn't such an eccentric woman to be the creator of the IS.

"Speaking of which, just how do you know her Naruto?" Ichika and Cecelia turned to the blonde for an explanation.

"Well the thing is that we've been talking over the phone ever since the unmanned IS incident, apparently he hacked Ichika's phone to get my number since my S-Touch couldn't be hacked because of the firewall which I created," said Naruto sheepishly.

"Hang on, you've been talking to her and she hacked my phone?!" asked Ichika in disbelief, Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders.

"But why didn't you tell us?" asked Cecelia.

"I doubt anyone would believe that I was actually talking to the originator of IS," said Naruto "Anyways, we should go and get ourselves ready for whatever schedule Chifuyu-sensei might have prepared for us," said Naruto, the duo had to agree with his suggestion plus they needed some time to go through the stockpile of revelations in their mind right now.

Sometime later, Naruto had received a notice that all personal IS users are to meet with Chifuyu at a marked location for a special meeting. So he had Sonia and a pouting Kurami hang out with Nohotoke and her friends while he made his way to the location with the others which so happens to be a rocky area with a tall cliff wall facing the ocean and a small creek flowing from the top of the cliff. Everyone were dressed in their pilot suits with Chifuyu standing before them.

"Alright, now that everyone with a personal IS is here…," Chifuyu began to explain the reason for their being there, she was interrupted.

"Please wait a moment, why is Houki here when she doesn't have a personal IS?" asked Ling confusedly.

[That's a pretty good question] said Kushina.

"Well I…," Houki was about to speak but Chifuyu cut her off.

"I shall explain! You see, the thing is…,"

"CHI-CHAN!"

Both Houki and Chifuyu had a look of mild annoyance at the sound of an all too familiar voice as they turned round to look at the last person they were want to be around with. Everyone looked up to see Tabane skidding down a cliff wall before launching herself into the air and then diving towards Chifuyu. As if in slow motion, Chifuyu casually reached out to grab her by the face and redirect the trajectory of the dive.

"Aw come on Chi-chan, I wanted to see you too! Let's give each other a nice hug!" said Tabane happily.

"Shut up Tabane," said Chifuyu.

"Seems like you're still the iron claw you used to be," then she immediately switched targets to Houki who looked to want to hide somewhere underground at the moment "Hi there!"

"H-hello," Houki responded, looking very uncomfortable.

"It's been a long time, like how many years has it been? You've really grown Houki-chan, especially you bre-"

*Whack*

Tabane didn't get to say more as she got smacked in the head with bokken which Houki took out from who knows where.

"Take another step and I'll hit you!" said Houki sternly.

Tabane rubbed the sore bump on head with teary eyes "But you hit me already, you're being mean Houki-chan!" then she looked at Naruto and Ichika "Please scold Houki-chan for being mean to me, Foxy-kun! Ikkun!"

"Well…," Ichika just didn't know what to say about all this.

"Ehehehehe," Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

"Hey Tabane, at least introduce yourself," said Chifuyu sternly _"But why does it sound like she is familiar with Uzumaki?"_

"What a hassle, anyways I'm Tabane the genius. Hallo!" said Tabane cheerfully, everyone sans Naruto, Houki, Ichika and Chifuyu were surprised upon realizing who she is.

"You mean you're that Tabane?" asked Ling.

"The brilliant scientist who developed IS?" Charlotte was in disbelief.

"Tabane Shinonono?" said Laura.

"My guess is that they're finding it hard to believe that an eccentric person like is the reason for the existence of IS," thought Naruto.

[True, but unique people have unique quirks] said Minato.

[You better not be talking about my verbal tic!] said Kushina with a dangerous glint in her eye.

[O-Of course, plus I find it cute]

Kushina blushed at that and looked away while cupping her cheeks with her hands

Then Tabane suddenly pointed to the sky "Now, behold the great sky!"

Everyone looked up to see something falling from the sky before crashing to the ground, the dust cleared to reveal what appears to be a giant grey metallic rhombus object before them. Tabane pushed a button on a remote in hand as the object disappeared to reveal a red IS in active mode before the ground. Naruto took one look and could already tell that it is far more advanced than any he had ever seen so far, a sudden feeling in his heart sprouted and he recognized…it is competiveness and the wanting to surpass it already especially since it is specially designed by Tabane herself.

"Ta-dah! This is Houki-chan's personal IS, Akatsubaki! I handcrafted this IS and it's superior in all respects to every current IS. Akatsubaki is a 4th generation IS made by the one and only genius, Tabane!" said person puffed her chest out in pride of her declaration.

"A 4th Gen?" Laura was rather surprised at hearing that.

"All the nations have only experimental 3rd generation models ready," said Cecelia.

"And yet this is already…," Charlotte was just as surprised.

"I shouldn't be surprised since it's Tabane-chan," said Naruto with a shrug of the shoulders.

"That's right, Foxy-kun!" said Tabane cheerfully.

"Why does she keep calling you that?" asked Charlotte.

"Well Foxy-kun has whisker-marks, making him look like one…though I haven't forgotten my secondary objective," Tabane looked at Naruto with eyes of a hunter, the blonde himself began to pale as he took a step back in fear of what she might try to do.

[Only advice I can give you is to sleep with one eye open] said Minato with a look of pity.

[But you're so cute when you purr] said Kushina playfully.

"You're not helping, Kaa-san!" thought Naruto.

"Now Houki-chan, let's adjust it for you," said Tabane.

Houki climbed into Akatsubaki as the red IS began to fit itself around her, then Tabane hooked it up to a holographic computer and was typing away at high-speed much to the shock of many. This is truly a prodigy at work before them right now.

"All done, now do a test and try flying. It should move according to your thoughts," Tabane finished typing in a matter of minutes before speaking up.

"Okay, let's try it," Houki closed her eyes in concentration as the IS hovered in the air for a moment before making a rapid ascent to the sky at speed greater than any known IS so far.

"Whoa, that's so fast!" said Ling in surprise.

"So this is fourth-generation acceleration?" said Charlotte in wonder of the speed.

[Which makes me question exactly which generation we are currently?] asked Kushina.

[I spoke to Fabio-san, he and the group classified us drawing close to that of a 4th gen. so technically, we're in between the 3rd and 4th gen of IS] said Minato.

"Which means we still have room for improvement," thought Naruto as he continues to watch the red light that is the Akatsubaki flying around at high-speed. Whether training as a ninja or a IS pilot, Naruto always wants to go beyond his limit which is a trait shared between him and Rock Lee although the latter tends to overdo it at times.

"That's nice Houki-chan! Now try using your katana! The right one is 'Amatsuki', and the left one is 'Karaware'. I'm sending the special weapon data your way ," said Tabane before typing to do just that.

Houki stopped to hover in the air as she unsheathed the dual katana from her sides then crossed her arms "Amatsuki, go!" she swung the right katana which then launched four red laser beams that pierced through the skies "Wow…"

"Pretty good isn't it? Now try shooting this one down!" with a wave of her hand, Tabane actually teleported a missile turret to her side and had it fire a salvo of homing missiles towards Houki.

Houki quickly built some distance between herself and the missiles then she swung the Karaware to unleash a red crescent wave of energy to slice through all of them in a single strike much to the amazement of the others.

"That's amazing," said Ichika.

"I gotta admit it's pretty powerful," said Naruto.

[But I know we can do much better than that, we just haven't played all our cards yet] said Kushina.

[Calm down, Kushina] Minato placated his wife, being well aware of her competitive nature.

"Orimura-sensei, there's trouble!" everyone turned to see Maya running with a phone in hand and a look of panic on her face, making them wonder what has her so worried at the moment.

"What is it?" asked Chifuyu.

"Take a look at this!" Maya handed the phone over for her to read.

"…Mission task A, countermeasures have been deployed as of the present. The test operation has been cancelled! There's something I want you to do,"

" _Sounds to like we have a potential A or S-rank right now,"_ thought Naruto.

[It could be just so] said Minato.

Later on, Chifuyu led the group back to the inn and into room full of equipment in a form of a makeshift meeting room. Though along the way, Tabane disappeared without a trace much to Naruto and his parents' surprise but Houki and Chifuyu seem to be relieved at her absence. Also Kurami reunited with Naruto, having been feeling rather lonely without him. She's been with him since the day of his birth and so would feel strange being apart from him for very long.

* * *

Chifuyu proceeded to explain the mission while the large holographic screen displayed various illustrations for further understanding

"Two hours ago off the coast of Hawaii, a third-generation IS called Silverio Gospel, joint-developed by USA and Israel, was undergoing a trial operation when it lost control. It is currently on a rampage. We have been informed that it has escaped from the observation area. According to the intelligence, it's an unmanned IS,"

" _Another unmanned IS?"_ thought Naruto.

" **This is the second time for this to happen, but the scenario is different though,"** said Kurami.

"What do you mean?"

[What she means is that the first unmanned IS seemed to have been sent, but this one rather lost control…or more like was being hacked] said Minato.

[Do you really think so?] asked Kushina.

[It's just a possibility too hard to ignore] they turned their attention back to Chifuyu.

"Using satellite's tracking, we picked up Gospel's signal two kilometers from here. We have roughly fifty minutes to handle this situation, according to the directives of the academy's upper strata. The teaching staff will conduct the blockade of the airspace as well as the waters, using the academy's training machines. Thus, I'll have the holders of personal machines take care of the vital part of this operation," said Chifuyu.

"Excuse me?" Ichika couldn't believe what his sister just said.

"In other words, we're supposed to stop the IS gone amok," said Laura stoically.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Of course not, don't be surprised over everything," Ling scolded him.

"Now then, I'm starting the strategy meeting. If you have any comments, please raise your hand," said Chifuyu.

Cecelia was the first to raise her hand "I have one, I'm requesting detail spec data on the target IS,"

"Fine but don't disclose them under any circumstances. In case of a leakage, you will be subjected to a trial by the court of inquiry and two years of surveillance,"

"I understand,"

Then the Holo-screen displayed the specs and blueprints of the rogue IS for them all to see and analyze for any potential weak points, but so far they aren't really finding any.

"…special shoot model designed for wide-area extermination, looks like it can conduct all-range offense just like my Blue Tears," said Cecelia.

"It's specialized in both agility and offense," Ling pointed.

"It kinda feels like the special armament is a ruffian, I get the feeling that perpetual defense won't be easy," said Charlotte.

"We also need to consider the AI within the IS and its features as well, no doubt it's the type meant for analyzing opponents and setting up counters," said Naruto, having dealt with AI in his programming.

"This data doesn't reveal it combat capability," Laura looked at the screen thoughtfully "Can't you conduct reconnaissance?"

"That's impossible, the machine is still in hypersonic flight, you will get only one approach shot," said Chifuyu.

Maya then spoke "If we only have one chance, I guess that means all we can do is hit it with a machine that has a one-hit-kill offensive power,"

"By one-hit-kill, she means…," Naruto looks at an unaware Ichika and amusedly noticed that everyone else were looking at him too, it was then Ichika noticed that he was the center of attention and realized the reason why.

"Well we have that part down, but the question is how we transport him there?" said Ling.

"It will be difficult as every bit of energy counts for this mission," said Charlotte.

"It would have to be an IS with sufficient speed to get him to the destination, and I'm guessing that we'll need a hypersensor too," said Laura.

"Hang on a minute, I have to be the one to go?" asked Ichika worriedly.

"Of course!" the girls replied simultaneously.

"Don't gang up me like that!"

Chifuyu was about to say something but Naruto spoke up instead.

"Ichika, this isn't any sparring match or tourney match back at the academy but the real deal. These are the kind of situations which we've been training for. I can understand your hesitance but you mustn't forget your own reason for being an IS pilot. But if you don't have that inner drive for this mission, then we won't force you and find another way," said Naruto, he noticed that Ichika was clenching his fists tightly as he gazed at his fellow male pilot with eyes full of life and determination, and smiled inwardly.

" **Good at encouraging others as always Naruto-kun,"** said Kurami fondly.

"I'll do it, I'll take on the mission!" said Ichika, then he felt his back being hit very hard and turned to see Naruto standing behind with a foxy grin.

"Atta boy! Now that you shed your chicken feathers, we can really get down to business!" said Naruto cheerfully, getting the girls to giggle at his joke.

"Will your IS in its jet form be able to transport him to the target?" asked Chifuyu, Naruto was about to answer when a voice suddenly spoke up.

"Wait a sec!" everyone looked to see Tabane poking her head out from a hole under the ceiling of the room as she flipped off to land on the ground and skipping up to Chifuyu "Nee nee Chi-chan, a better strategy is forming in my mind,"

"Get out,"

Tabane shook her excitedly "Listen, listen! This is definitely Akatsubaki's turn!"

"How so?" asked Naruto.

"Hihihihi, you'll just have to wait and see,"

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave the room "In that case, I'll need to go and make some preparation for this upcoming mission even if Akatsubaki is going to play a role in it,"

"What do you mean, Naruto-kun?" asked Maya confusedly.

"While Ichika has the one-hit-kill and Houki will possibly be the one to transport him aside from myself, I'll also need to be there to serve as backup in case things will go awry plus I can help make it a bit more easier for Ichika to strike the rogue IS with his Reiraku Byakuya," Naruto explained to them.

Chifuyu seem to nod in agreement, his explanation holds a lot of credibility and the versatility of his IS makes him ideal for support "Very well then, we will meet at the lake in ten minutes time,"

Naruto nodded in affirmation and left the room, he was walking through the hallways in direction of his room. He stopped and let out a sigh before speaking up "What are you doing?" he looked behind to see Tabane standing behind him with a bright smile.

"I'm follow you of course!" said Tabane as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"What I meant is why are you following me?"

Tabane pouted at the question "You're being mean Foxy-kun, you don't want me around you?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I'm just a little confused since you're supposed to be with Chifuyu about this idea of yours," said Naruto.

"Well she said to meet after ten minutes, till then I'll be with you," said Tabane cheerfully.

"I guess so, alright you can come along,"

Tabane glomped the blonde joyfully "Yay, more time with Foxy-kun!"

[Looks to me like she's gotten attached to you] said Minato.

" _ **Yippee…,"**_ Kurami grumbled to herself.

They finally arrived at his room which at the moment is empty since Sonia is still hanging with Nohotoke and the others. Naruto went into his bag to take out the S-Touch and turned it on before unlocking the security with a slight pulse of chakra.

"LUNA, I need to you to switch to Holo-mode. I need to do some tuning to Odin," said Naruto as he flipped the handheld open before placing on top of the table then he drew out a USB cable and plugged into the red bracelet.

[As you wish Naruto-sama, activating Holo-mode] said LUNA,

Then a beam of light shot out from the S-Touch before holographic screens were projected, Naruto swiped the screens left and right till there were three in a row. The left screen displayed a 360 view of Odin in 3D, the right displayed the same only that it displayed the IS in its jet fighter mode, and the middle displayed various algorithms, graphs, and specs of the IS. A holographic keyboard projected before Naruto then he proceeded to type rapidly as Tabane looked on with eyes full of curiosity and interest in the blonde.

" _Okay, so how are we going to modify Odin?"_ thought Naruto as he continued to type.

[According to the specs of the rogue IS, it specializes in speed and offensive power along with long range weaponry. So we'll need to set up countermeasures for that, also its armor tells us that it can take serious hits and yet still continue fighting which is why Ichika's Reiraku Byakuya is its bane] said Minato.

" _Since I'm stepping in as support, I need to change a few things,"_

[Sochi-kun, I want you to set the energy levels of Odin to 35% for energy shielding, 40% for acceleration, and 25% for offensive power] said Kushina, looking very serious for the moment.

" **Why so Kushina-san?"** asked Kurami.

[The rogue IS is bound to use its speed to build a distance for defense and offense, so we'll need just as much speed to keep up with it and restrict its movements for the decisive blow to be struck]

" _I see what you mean, then I'll change the energy flow,"_ Naruto inputted several commands to do just that with the graphs detailing the IS's stats changing to match the new information.

"Wow Foxy-kun, you're pretty good at modifying your IS. You must be a genius like me," said Tabane after watching Naruto working on his IS for a bit.

Naruto chuckled at her statement "Thanks for the compliment Tabane, but I have never thought myself to be a genius and don't care for that title,"

"Eh, why not? I've seen how strong you're as a pilot so far, you were even able to beat the Valkyrie Trace System which was mimicking Chi-chan," said Tabane as she tilted her head in confusion.

"True but that came from what I've learned since I was a kid," Naruto stopped typing and turned to look back at Tabane with a look of nostalgia "Back where I came from, I was one of the worst students in the academy and many people wrote me off as someone bound to always lose to the prodigies. I refused to accept that kind of fate and so took to training every day to become strong, along the way I learnt many things by myself and from many people which made me become all the more stronger for it,"

"What were they?" Tabane was really taken by the smile on Naruto's face as he spoke.

"I learnt to follow my own path and always remain true to it, to never give up or go back on my word, never abandoning my comrades no matter how important the mission, the desire to protect the ones close my heart is the true source of strength. Truth to be told, if I were to be a genius then it would be as a genius of hard work,"

"So you'll also protect Chi-chan and us too?" asked Tabane, Naruto seemed to notice a certain tone hidden behind her voice…it was a tone of concern but he responded nonetheless.

"Of course I will, I've come to care about all of you," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

Tabane went to hug him and this time it was far more gentle than the ones she gave to him before "Thank you, Naruto-kun,"

"No need for thanks, I think it's almost time to meet the others over at the lake," said Naruto turning to finishing up on the modifications before turning off the S-Touch.

"That's right, so let's go!" Tabane happily wrapped her arms around one of Naruto's and proceeded to pulled out of the room towards the meeting place, Naruto was blushing from feeling of two soft mounds on his arms. Guess there's more to this girl than he had thought.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, we're drawing close to the battle against the rogue IS called Silver Gospel with Naruto, Ichika and Houki teaming for this crucial mission. The next chapter is gonna take a lot of research for it but I hope to make it a good one. Naruto will still battle with the major mindset of an IS pilot but the use of Ninjutsu will make an appearance later in the story. I got a question about the current harem list and here it is**

 **Harem List  
** **Kurami (Fem Kyuubi)  
Tabane  
Cecilia  
Charl  
Laura  
Ling  
Tatenashi Sarashiki  
Kanzashi Sarashiki  
Honne Nohotoke  
Chifuyu  
Maya  
Penny (From RWBY)  
Madoka (Still a probability unless requested otherwise)**

 **And here's a recap of Naruto's IS:**

 **Odin (with Kushina's core)  
Second Shift: Odin MK 2  
One Off Ability: Extreme Mode  
Firearms: Dual semi-automatic handguns, Assault Rifle, Rocket Launcher  
Armaments: Retaliator, Beam Guarder, Dual Katana, Zanbatou (Zabuza's sword)**

 **Dot-Phasor with flight capabilities (with Minato's core)  
Second Shift: Dot-Blastrizer  
One Off Ability: Overload  
Armaments: Multi Gimmick Sack (Z-lance, Z-hammer, Z-shooter, Z-sword, Z-rifle, Z-shield), Dot Gatling gun**

 **Be sure to read and review as usual.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


	15. Operation: Singular Strike

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 14: Operation: Singular Strike**

Naruto and Tabane made their way out of the inn with the latter dragging the former by the arm till they entered the forest nearby and soon arrived at a small clearing comprising of a small creek flowing by a large cliff wall, they saw they saw that Ichika, Chifuyu and Maya were already there and were looking up at Houki standing atop a boulder. She held her left hand to reveal a pair of gold and silver bells wrapped around Houki's left wrist by a red and black ribbon divided by a white line.

"I guess that's the Closed Form of her IS," said Naruto thoughtfully.

"That's right, I made for it to look cute for my equally cute sister!" said Tabane cheerfully, Naruto smiled back in return.

[Whatever, our bracelets look just as good on Sochi-kun] Kushina pouted at that whilst Minato could only chuckle sheepishly.

Soon the rest arrived and they watched Houki hold out her hand and called out "Akatsubaki, go!" then the bells jingled before there was a bright flash of red light before fading away to reveal her equipped with the red IS.

"Orimura-sensei, do the Upper Strata know that Dr. Shinonono is here?" asked Maya cautiously.

"They've been contacted, but right now the top priority is to stop the rampaging IS," Chifuyu replied, she frowned a bit when she saw Tabane still latching onto Naruto's arm until she finally let go and stepped forward _"Why does it bother me that she's hanging on to Uzumaki so much?"_

"In that case Houki-chan, activating Fold-Out Armor!" said Tabane, Houki complied then parts of the IS such as the two pairs of wings and the shoulders opened up to emit pink blades of pure energy much to the surprise of others "The Fold-Out Armor is like the equipment of the fourth-generation IS. In a nutshell, Akatsubaki is an evolved Yukihira Nigata,"

That statement truly took everyone by surprise, especially Naruto _"An evolved form of the Yukihira Nigata? It's like she's saying that it practically surpasses that of Ichika's Byakushiki,"_

[I believe she means to be an equal or so to his IS, but it all falls down to how well she can pilot the IS to bring out its full potential] said Minato thoughtfully.

Tabane then spoke up again "But you know…this talk about the rampage at the sea reminds me of the White Knight incident ten years ago, right?" she turns to Chifuyu who flinched slightly before looking away, something which caught Naruto and his parents' attention.

"The White Knight incident?" said Ichika.

Naruto then spoke "I've heard about it from my dad…ten years ago and a month after the IS was first announced, 2341 missiles from all over the world got hacked and were launched towards Japan. While the world was in chaos, a single woman wearing a silver IS appeared and singlehandedly took down all of the missiles then vanished as the sun sets like that of a phantom. Because of that, the world entitled the mysterious IS as the White Knight,"

[Well I have a pretty good idea as to whom the mystery pilot is] said Kushina.

[Same here, it's somewhat obvious given the skills required to pull such a feat] said Minato

Naruto nodded in agreement as they watched Tabane approach Chifuyu with a look of playful "Heh heh, I wonder who this white knight was…ne ne Chi-chan?"

Chifuyu looked away "I don't care,"

"According to my predictions, her bust size is 88-,"

*Whack*

Tabane couldn't say anymore as Chifuyu hit her head hard with the tablet in hand, Naruto's eyes slowly drifted towards her chest but quickly snapped out of it upon realizing that he was about to tread through dangerous waters.

"That's so mean of you Chi-chan…come on Naru-kun, please tell her that she's being mean to me!" Tabane went to wrap her arms around Naruto's neck from behind, getting everyone to frown at her for that.

" **How clingy can this girl get?"** Kurami muttered with jealousy.

"Back to the topic, how long will it take to adjust the Akatsubaki?" asked Chifuyu.

"Orimura-sensei!" Cecelia suddenly spoke up.

"What is it?"

"With me and Blue Tears, success is guaranteed. A high-mobility package Strike Gunner has been dispatched,"

"Is this package quantum-transformed?" asked Chifuyu.

Cecelia appeared unsure at the question "Well not yet…"

"By the way, 7 minutes is more than enough for Akatsubaki's adjustment!" Tabane piped up.

"Good, the objective of this operation is the pursuit and takedown of the target by Orimura, Shinonono and Uzumaki. The operation begins in 30 minutes, all of you make your preparations at once!" Chifuyu announced.

Cecelia looked to the ground in disappointment, then she felt a hand placed on her shoulder and turned to see Naruto smiling as if saying that he understood her wanting to join, cheering her up a bit. Naruto looked to see Tabane already working on the adjustment of the IS then he turned towards Ichika as both boys looked at each other with eyes full of determination and nodded in a silent agreement to accomplish this mission with everything they've got.

Naruto was currently sitting in a small clearing within a clearing and he was meditating with Kurami curled up in his lap and sleeping comfortably while he was having a small conversation with his parents about the forthcoming mission and giving him some advice on what situation might come up during the battle.

[This will be your first official mission son, be sure to give it your all out there] said Minato.

[I'm worried Minato-kun, what if something bad happens and Sochi-kun gets himself hurt?] said Kushina worriedly.

" _Kaa-chan, you shouldn't worry so much. I trained for moments like this, and will make sure that this mission will be a success like I did on the others back in the Elemental Nations,"_ thought Naruto.

[But things escalated so quickly in those missions, I have every right to worry]

[Please put some more faith in him Kushina-chan, he's our son after all] said Minato.

" **And he had proven himself time and again in those missions too,"** Kurami added her input.

[…okay, I'll do so]

" _Thanks Kaa-chan, there's nothing more I would wish for than that,"_ Naruto smiled warmly then he caressed Kurami's fur, making her purr with bliss. He heard footsteps and turned back to see Laura and Charlotte walking into the clear while wearing their uniforms "Oh hey, what's up?"

"We were wondering where you were because there's only ten minutes left before the mission commences, so we came looking for you," said Laura.

"Oh I was doing a pre-battle meditation to calm my nerves," Naruto replied then he got to his feet while holding Kurami in his arms then approached the two girls.

"Naruto-kun, I hope that you would be careful on this mission," said Charlotte with a look of worry, Laura wasn't expressing it but she was feeling the same way.

Naruto replied with a foxy grin "Don't worry, Ichika, Houki and I will be able to accomplish this mission with some issue but we'll definitely pull through,"

"I hope so," Charlotte spoke softly.

"I hope for your success, after all my wife isn't weak," said Laura.

Naruto and Charlotte almost facefaulted at what she said before the former replied to her "Laura-chan, I keep telling you that the male is the husband while the female is the wife and we're not married!"

"At least not yet, I have yet to make preparations,"

"He didn't mean it that way, Laura!" said Charlotte.

Laura looked rather thoughtful "This is most trifling,"

" _Oh man, how am I ever going to correct her on this?"_ thought Naruto with a sigh.

[It is a long trying journey my son] said Minato sagely.

"Tell me about it,"

Later on, Naruto was walking along the beachside towards where Ichika and Houki were waiting for him since they had gone earlier. Naruto left Kurami in the care of Cecelia and the others before leaving, he soon saw the duo in the distance and walked quickly to meet up with them. Ichika raised his bracelet to project a holographic screen to display the time which is currently 11:30, meaning that the waiting time is over, the trio looked at each other and nodded silently in affirmation before proceeding to equip themselves with there is.

"Come Byakushiki!" Ichika held his hand out for the bracelet to activate and engulf him in white light before dissipating to reveal him outfitted with the white IS Byakushiki.

"Let's go, Akatsubaki!" Houki held her hand out for the bells to jingle and cover her with red light then faded away to reveal her in the red IS Akatsubaki.

"Let's fly Odin!" Naruto held his hand before him and tapped the red bracelet with his other hand to be enshrouded in purple light and fade away to reveal him donning the royal blue-purple roman themed IS with the helmet folding back to reveal his face. The three IS pilots slowly hovered into the air then Ichika spoke to Houki.

"Now then Houki, I hope you don't mind," said Ichika politely.

Houki simply smiled "Although my pride would naturally prevent any man from mounting atop a woman, I will make an exception this time,"

"You realize that kind of statement can cause misconceptions from an outsider's view," said Naruto with a smirk, causing Houki to blush at what he meant and Ichika to look confused.

"Huh, what do you mean by that?" asked Ichika, Naruto resisted the urge to facepalm, he may still be dense but is slowly getting hints at least but this dude absolutely has no clue whatsoever.

[I see a difficult marriage for this guy] said Kushina stoically.

[I'm sure he won't be like that forever] said Minato.

[I beg to differ] Kushina deadpanned, causing her husband to sweatdrop. Naruto and Ichika hovered close to Houki for a final mission briefing.

"Remember Houki, this isn't practice so you need to b-,"

Houki cut him off and responded "Of course I know that so don't worry, I'll carry you properly so feel relaxed and have a good journey,"

"It looks like you're enjoying this, is it because you finally got your very own personal machine?" asked Ichika.

"Oh? I'm the same as usual. Ichika, you shall calmly execute this operation,"

"I know that already…,"

Naruto was frowning a bit, it was like Ichika said, Houki appears happy given that she now has a personal IS of her own thanks to her sister. But it looks to him like she's being too happy which could complicate things on this mission, thinking back to his first C-rank turned A-rank mission when he took the ninja life for granted at first until he met Zabuza and Haku before learning lessons which he inscribed into his very soul. Naruto snapped out of reverie when he heard Chifuyu speak through the comm link.

"Orimura, Uzumaki, and Shinonono do you copy?" asked Chifuyu.

"Yes!" said Ichika.

"We read you," said Naruto.

"Loud and clear," said Houki.

Back in the meeting room at the inn, Chifuyu was communicating with Ichika and the others whilst Charlotte and the rest were sitting nearby and listening in "The key to this operation is a one-strike-sure-kill, keep in mind that you are to finish it immediately. Your target is Silverio Gospel though from now on I'll call it Gospel,"

"Roger that," said Naruto in affirmation.

"Orimura-sensei, I along with Naruto should support Ichika in accordance to the situation, am I right?" asked Houki.

"That's right, but do not overexert yourselves," said Chifuyu "You have absolutely no experience in real combat with Akatsubaki, there's even a possibility that some unexpected problems will occur,"

"Understood," Houki replied "However, I will support him to the best of my ability,"

"That girl…," Ling muttered with a small frown "Isn't her tone of voice a bit too excited?"

"Yes, that's how I heard it," said Cecelia, rubbing Kurami's fur while the vixen sat on her lap.

"It's understandable, although…," Charlotte felt the same way like the rest.

"Not to mention that she disregarded Naruto with her last statement," said Laura with a frown.

Chifuyu stood there with a thoughtful look before calling out to Maya "Open a private channel to Orimura and Uzumaki,"

"Yes, ma'am," Maya complied then proceeded to open up a custom comm link.

"Ichika, Naruto," said Chifuyu.

"Yes?" Ichika was a bit surprised but he and Naruto listened attentively.

"This is a private channel so Shinonono cannot hear us," said Chifuyu "It seems like she's feeling merry, she might do something stupid in that condition so be sure to support her if something happens,"

[Apparently everyone has noticed that she is being overconfident because of her IS] said Minato.

"Understood, I'll keep that in mind," said Ichika.

"Same here, I'll make sure that nothing bad happens," said Naruto.

"I'm counting on you two," Chifuyu looked at Maya to signal to change the channel of the comm link.

"Switching to open channel, standby," said Maya whilst doing so.

"Then…start the operation!"

Ichika floated over to Houki's back and held onto her shoulders whilst Naruto shifted his body's position with Odin transforming into its jet mode and was hovering in midair with its afterburners ready to be ignited.

"Here we go!" said Houki.

"Yeah!" Ichika replied in affirmation.

"I'm all set here," said Naruto.

Houki activated the thrusters as they powered up before taking off with great speed that it parted waves on the sea before ascending to the air to trigger a sonic boom, Naruto did the same and quickly caught up with the duo in his jet mode while staying close to them. In the meeting room, many were again surprised by the speed of Houki's red IS save for Chifuyu and Maya who were more focused on the accomplishment of the mission at hand.

"The Ignition Boost is nothing compared to this kind of speed!" said Charlotte in surprise.

"It's outrageously fast," said Laura.

"It's taking Naruto-kun to use the jet form of his IS to keep up with them," said Cecelia.

Meanwhile the trio were quickly flying through the clouds and accessed the satellite with it loading up into their HUD as a screen came up on their interface to display a radar with a moving red dot to signify their target.

"Ichika, we'll be there soon so get ready!" said Houki.

"Okay!"

Houki increased speed with the Fold-Out Armor providing additional velocity with to be radiating a red aura while Naruto channels more energy to the afterburners to emit a blue aura as they closed in on their target. A screen popped up on their interface again to display something flying up ahead, it is a silver IS which unlike any they've seen so far covers the entire body with a helmeted blue visor while sporting two large thick metallic wings.

"There it is!" said Naruto in alert.

"So that's Silverio Gospel…," Ichika muttered out loud.

"We're accelerating, we'll contact the target within 10 seconds!" said Houki.

"Got it!"

 **Music Start: BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle OST; Conciliation (Es' Theme)  
** The trio quickly approached the target as Ichika balanced himself on Houki's back then drew out the Yukihira Niigata and activated the Reiraku Byakuya while radiating a golden aura around himself then poised for a strike, however the Gospel sharply turned round to face them before ascending higher to escape from them but they continued to pursue it.

"Houki, keeping pressing forward so I can get closer!" said Ichika

The trio kept a beat on the target which was moving about to keep away from them with many aerial maneuvers, it suddenly spun round and spread its wings to launch a volley of laser beams with homing abilities at the trio. They all split up with Naruto reverting to his default mode as they took evasive actions to avoid getting hit by the lasers which explodes when close enough but managed to dodge them.

"Naruto, Houki! We'll attack from different directions to pin it down in one place for me to land a blow on it!" said Ichika.

"Understood!" Houki summoned the katanas Amatsuki and Karaware into her hands before swooping to engage Gospel.

"Roger that! Equip Retaliator and Beam Guarder!" Naruto held his hands to materialize the twin-bladed beam lance and the anti-beam shield.

Houki swung the Amatsuki to launch a barrage of red laser beams towards Gospel who flew sideways and retaliated with laser beams of its own, forcing to launch another barrage to cancel out the incoming projectiles before closing the gap to engage in close range to slash with her katanas. Gospel was constantly deflecting the blades with its forearm guards and short dashes before kicking her away to build some distance, However Houki wasn't done as she swung Karaware to fire a red beam slash to land a hit before taking evasive action to avoid the next barrage of laser beams.

Naruto flew in between with his Beam Guarder in front to defend against the homing laser as he rapidly approached before thrusting out with his beam lance which missed but remained deterred and remained in the offensive, he quickly dashed close and bashed Gospel with his shield to make it stagger backwards **"Attack Function: Phalanx!"** he rapidly jabbed at the rogue IS with his charged beam lance in three different directions to about 6 hits with the last one powerful enough to send it flying back. Gospel recovered instantly in midair and launched a barrage of homing lasers in retaliation with Naruto having to defend by raising the Beam Guarder before him and at the same time twirling the Retaliator rapidly like a propeller to deflect the incoming shots "Substitute Assault Rifle!" Naruto sent away the beam lance before materializing said weapon as he took aim and fired rapidly but was unable to land a shot of Gospel and was still defending against the laser beams.

Gospel quickly darted to the side to avoid a horizontal slash by Ichika's sword from behind and continued to evade the strikes which followed after it, the rogue IS was about to fire at him when a red blade bit struck one of its wings from the side but the second one missed with its attack before both retreated to reattach themselves to Houki's IS with her Fold-Out Armor currently active. She swung her Karaware once more to launch a volley of red laser beams **"Attack Function: Homing Shot!"** Naruto took aim with his rifle and fired a barrage of blue homing laser beams in conjunction with Houki's. Gospel displayed amazing speed to be able to evade all of the homing laser beams and shot them down with its own then switched targets to Naruto and Houki, making it their turn to play the dodging game.

"Man that thing's fast, and its arsenal in nothing to scoff at," Naruto looked at his shield energy meter to see that a bit of it was shaved courtesy of his two attacks and being by one of the laser beams.

"We'll need to stop its movements for Ichika to land a hit on it!" said Houki.

"Sounds good! Substitute Tool Packs!" Naruto sent away the assault rifle and Beam Guarder away for the two packs to appear at both sides of his waist, he hovered his hands over the packs to materialize multiple shuriken and channeled wind chakra, coating them in a blue aura before throwing them towards Gospel who quickly evaded them but he continued to throw more. Houki deployed the blade bits once more at their target, the first one missed but the second managed to hit it, causing the rogue IS to stagger for a moment. Naruto seized the opportunity by reaching for the tool pack to materialize a long chain with a weight on one end, he twirled the chain before lashing out for it to wrap around Gospel and constrict it, and Houki slammed into it with her katanas to hold it down further.

[These are one of the many reasons for a three-man squad, well done son] said Minato proudly.

"Ichika, do it now!" Houki yelled out.

"Okay!" Ichika dove towards the Gospel from overhead with his sword raised to land the decisive blow when something caught his eyes, making them widen in shock then he increased speed…and flew right past them altogether! Houki and Naruto were in disbelief at what he just did which gave Gospel to opportunity to break free by firing its laser beams at them both for Houki to back away and Naruto to let go of the chain.

[Why did he not strike Gospel…and what is he doing?!] said Kushina angrily, they turned to see Ichika using his sword to destroy as many laser beams as he could.

"What are you doing?! It's the chance we've been waiting for!" said Houki angrily over the comm link.

"There's a ship over here, and the teachers should have blockaded this area…," said Ichika looking down at the ocean.

"A ship?!" Naruto and Houki looked down and sure enough there was a fishing ship, and by the looks of it is an illegal one due to no data being available on it "Why now of all times?!" they quickly took flight to avoid another barrage of laser beams from Gospel.

"They're criminals, forget about them!" said Houki, causing Naruto to frown at her statement.

Ichika continued to deflect the laser beams to prevent any from striking the ship below "I can't just let them die!"

"Substitute Dual Katanas!" Naruto switched the tool packs out for the katanas as he joined Ichika in deflecting the laser beams "Go after Gospel, I'll take over from here!"

"Got it, thanks Naruto!" Ichika flew to join Houki to engage Gospel once more.

Naruto swung his blades with great speed as he constantly deflected any stray shots which came his way to prevent any from hitting the ship on the ocean "Darn it, why does something like this have to happen of all times?!" he twirled his blades like propellers to deflect several more shots coming his way.

[Remember one of the earlier lessons we taught you son, unexpected events will occur during missions which will either aid or impede your progress and this unfortunately happens to be one of them] said Minato with a small frown.

" _I know but this isn't the time for that to happen!"_

[Sochi-kun, we have bigger problems now!] said Kushina urgently, Naruto turned his attention back to the others and saw that the energy blade projecting from Ichika's Yukihira Niigata which meant that his shield energy is extremely low for the Reiraku Byakuya to remain active, he gritted his teeth knowing that this mission has become far more difficult and Houki was more vocal about it.

"Ichika you idiot! You wasted energy protecting criminals, scum like them can-," Houki was about to say more.

"HOUKI!" Ichika yelled out, making her fall silent in shock at the tone of his voice "Houki…don't…don't say such sad things…never. After gaining power, you've lost sight of the weak…what's gotten into you Houki? This isn't like you, not at all,"

At those words, it dawned upon Houki what he meant. She was so happy and confident about her new IS that she disregarded the more important things, even recalling how she had placed Naruto as the tertiary support and herself as the main. Treating a stranger's life as unimportant during a mission isn't the way of a human even. Both katana slipped off her hands and disappeared as she silently sobbed in guilt.

" _This isn't looking good, both Ichika and Houki are very low on shield energy and can't fight for much longer,"_ thought Naruto, looking at Houki with sympathy as she acted a bit like Sasuke before but is now remorseful of her behavior.

[Sochi-kun, Gospel is attacking again!] Kushina cried out in urgency.

Naruto looked up and saw Gospel launch a volley of laser beams straight at Houki and Ichika is quickly moving in to shield her from the attack without any way to defend himself "If those beams hit him, Ichika will be…" Naruto activated his Ignition Boost and shot towards them with great velocity and barely managed to make it in time to position himself in front of them **"Attack Function: Shell Shield!"** a silver dome projected around Naruto right before the laser beams to successfully deflect them, he glanced over his shoulder and called out to them "Ichika, take Houki and get out of here!"

"But what about you?" asked Ichika.

"I'll hold Gospel off while you make your retreat, right now you two can't fight anymore!"

"But-,"

"GO!"

Ichika was hesitant but he knew that Naruto had a point "…okay, but you better catch up with us,"

"Gotcha, expect to see me soon," Naruto gave him a thumbs up, Ichika nodded in affirmation before reaching to grab Houki by the hand and pulled her away from the battlefield. Gospel was about to attack them but stopped and darted out of the way to avoid a slash from Naruto who was frowning behind the helmet "I'll be your opponent Gospel!"

 **Music Switch: BlazBlue Phase III Chronophantasma OST; Condemnation Wings II  
** Naruto constantly swung his blades with combos back to back in continuous attempts to land a hit on his current opponent but Gospel was evading each and every one of them much to his growing annoyance but he remained calm and kept up with the offensive before suddenly dashing forward and lashing out with a kick to the torso followed with a cross-slash for extra as the rogue quickly backed away to launch a barrage of laser beams towards him, Naruto switched his katanas to reverse grip on both hands and proceeded to deflect a majority of the shots but not all as few were able to hit him.

"Uzumaki, what do you think you're doing?" Chifuyu spoke sternly over the comm link.

"Trying to buy Ichika and Houki time for them to retreat," Naruto replied as he flew backwards to recover momentarily.

"Such is a risk too great, you must retreat along with them,"

"No can do, I can take the chance that it might follow me if I do so. I need to deal some damage before making a getaway," said Naruto with a frown.

"Denied, regroup with the others and that is an order!" said Chifuyu angrily, the others were in agreement with her as they were worried about the blonde.

Naruto was about to reply when a screen opened up on his HUD.

[Silverio Gospel of unknown organization detected. You are currently locked on]

"I might not be able to do that since it's focused on me now," he quickly deflected several more shots before flying straight at Gospel **"Attack Function: Power Cross-Slash!"** he channeled energy into the katanas before swinging to fire an X-shape blue energy wave at Gospel but missed the attack and was peppered with laser beams "Grrr Substitute Dual Semi-Automatics!" Naruto switched out the katanas for the handguns before firing rapidly with Gospel evading but getting hit at times before retaliating with a volley of laser beams **"Attack Function: Hundred Buster!"** he locked-on to the incoming laser beams then bolstered his reflexes to shot them all down with no time gap in between each shot before somersaulting backwards to fire the last shot at Gospel and landing a hit.

"So far little good, might as well switch things up a bit. Substitute Rocket Launcher!" the handguns disappeared for said weapon to appear in his hands **(Morrigan-D from Destiny 2)** he took aim and fired a couple of homing missiles with great speed before quickly reloading and prepping to fire again **"Attack Function: Quadra Payload!"** he pulled the trigger to fire a large missile which split up into four directions before converging in on the Gospel and saw that the missiles were shot out of the sky before they could hit their target "That AI program is seriously being a pain right now,"

[Sochi-kun, your shield is halfway gone. You need to damage it enough for your escape as soon as possible] said Kushina.

"I know but the problem is that it won't stay still enough for me to land that good hit," thought Naruto.

[Then try using Odin's One-Off ability] said Minato.

The redhead was quick to protest [We can't do that Minato-kun, using it will drain a serious amount of shield energy! It's too risky!]

"We don't have much options Kaa-san, I just need to damage it enough to get away," said Naruto.

Kushina was silent for a few moments before speaking up […if you're so sure of it, then I guess we can use it then]

Naruto smiled softly "Thanks Kaa-san, activating Extreme Mode!"

A screen appeared on the HUD with the words [EXTREME MODE ACTIVATED], the red core began to glow as a golden aura burst out from this IS's entire body and unleashing a strong gust of wind before receding slightly to reveal Odin enshrouded in the golden aura and its red eyes were glowing as well.

Naruto shot off like a bullet towards Gospel with a long golden trail of light behind, the rogue IS flew off to build some distance but Naruto quickly caught up with his katanas equipped and unleashed a speedy barrage of slashes back to back until Gospel kicked him away and launched a volley of laser beams towards him, Naruto remained unfazed as he actually flew towards the incoming laser beams and proceeded to cut each and every one of them in his path then was upon the Gospel to attack once more **"Attack Function: Samidare Slash!"** he swung the blades violently up-and-down and side-to-side before finishing with a fierce thrust to knock it back hard.

Back in the meeting room, many were surprised at what they're seeing on the screen before them. They were at first worried about the situation when this came up and are quite taken aback as this is the first time they're seeing Naruto do something like this.

"What's going on, why is Naruto's IS acting like this?" asked Charlotte confusedly.

"Could this be Odin's One-Off ability? He could also use it without going into its second shift like Ichika," said Ling in surprise.

"You're correct that it is his One-Off ability, it is called Extreme Mode," said Chifuyu without looking away from the screen at the ongoing battle.

"Extreme Mode?" Ling was a bit confused.

Maya was the one to explain "It is a state whereby the IS's power and reaction speed get amplified for a limited time as well as gaining an immunity to melee attacks,"

Laura was in wonder "Such power, and to think he never used in during the tournament,"

"And he has a good reason not to, the side effect is that it constantly drains shield energy in order to remain active. Uzumaki is taking a serious risk here," said Chifuyu with a frown.

Back with the battle, Naruto was currently equipped with Retaliator and Beam Shield as he was quickly bashing Gospel with the anti-beam shield before jabbing it several times with the lance then finishing up with a powerful roundhouse kick to send it flying back **"Attack Function: Sonic Lance!"** the beam lance emitted a blue aura before it spread throughout the IS then Naruto lunged at the rogue IS and struck it with a high-speed thrust.

[Sochi-kun, you need end this fight, you're running out of shield energy!] said Kushina urgently.

"Got it! **Attack Function: Gungnir!** " Naruto somersaulted backwards then focuses and concentrate energy to itself and fly upwards, then surrounds its lance with flame-like cone of drill energy and hurl it towards the enemy, the attack struck Gospel and sent it crashing into the ocean before exploding in a massive way. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he deactivated the Extreme Mode with the golden aura dissipating "Phew, looks like my gamble paid off. Now to get back to the others before it recovers,"

 **Music End**

Naruto turned round and began flying back to the inn when all of a sudden something burst out of the water, causing Naruto to look back and his eyes to widen in shock at what he saw seeing, same could be said for the others in the meeting room. Before him is a large spherical green energy field and at the center of it is Gospel curled up in a fetal position, he watched as it jettisoned the metal wings from its back and replaced them with ones created seemingly with pure energy which gave the rogue IS the image of a seraph.

"No way, this can't be what I think it is…could it?" asked Naruto in disbelief.

"Uzumaki, Gospel has just gone into its second shift! You need to retreat now!" said Chifuyu urgently.

Naruto flinched upon seeing Gospel turn its head towards him "Definitely listening on this one!" it twirled into the air to launch a barrage of laser beams from its new wings and these ones are stronger and faster than the previous ones. Naruto took off as fast as he could whilst using the Beam Guarder but to his shock that the shield began to show cracks from the consecutive impacts before shattering it and pelted his armor without remorse, his systems were beeping in alarm of the critical conditions and red lights were flashing.

"Naruto-kun, Gospel is catching up with you!" said Maya with growing worry.

"Substitute Dual Semi-Automatics!" Naruto equipped himself with his handguns and rapidly fired behind him to slow the rogue IS down but it was easily evading the shots fired at it and practically overtook Naruto and hovered before him "Oh crap!" Naruto tried to get out of the way.

[Sochi-kun, get out of there!] Kushina shouted in distress.

[Naruto!] Minato was just as worried.

However Gospel expanded its wings then wrapped them around Naruto to completely arrest his movements no matter how hard he tries to break free from its grip before proceeding to crush the blonde pilot, causing him to scream out in pain as parts of the IS creaked from the pressure to the point of cracking his helmet with the alarms blaring louder. It flung him into the air and concentrated a large amount of energy at a single point before unleashing a massive laser beam at Naruto and engulfing him in an explosion and thick black smoke.

"NARUTO!" Maya called out in horror, an expression shared by others. They could only watch helplessly as Naruto plummeted headfirst and visibly unconscious from the skies with his IS forcefully deactivated and his body was covered in burns then splashing into the ocean.

"This couldn't have happened…it has to be a bad dream," Cecelia muttered in denial.

"He promised that he would be okay, he promised!" Charlotte sobbed.

No one could see it but Chifuyu was clenching her fist very tightly, she was about to call out an order for the recovery team when there was the sound of static much to their confusion then they began to hear a voice and it sounded feminine.

"Hello…can anyone…me?" said the female voice.

"Who is this? What are you doing on this channel?" Chifuyu demanded, she doesn't have time to waste on this.

"Someone please…help him,"

Ling frowned a bit as for some reason she found the voice to be rather familiar, it took some time before it clicked together and she recognized the voice "I know that voice, I heard it before from Naruto's IS Odin!"

"Could it be the IS's AI calling for help?" said Laura.

"Please hurry, he's seriously hurt," said voice pleaded then a screen appeared and displayed a map with a blinking red light representing Naruto's location "Please help Naruto,"

"Maya, send an order to the teachers to retrieve Uzumaki by these coordinates!" Chifuyu commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Maya was more than willing to do so.

Kurami jumped off Cecelia's and ran out of the meeting room, no one needed a clue as to why the vixen left for they also got up to leave the room and help aid the badly injured blonde pilot from the tedious battle.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, the battle against Gospel has finally arrived and I hope to have done the battle scene justice for you readers. I realized that the AI on the silver IS is a learning one and would have known how much of a threat Ichika was before shifting target to Naruto. It was a close fight between Naruto and Gospel though the former would have technically won where it not for the Second Shift kicking in. What's going to happen next? Be sure to read and review as always.**

 **P.S I've put up a poll for the next story to be published by the readers' choice. My fingers are just twitching in anticipation for the next story to be put up.**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing Out.**


	16. Changing Gears

**The Sky Fox**

 **Chapter 15: Changing Gears**

The sun is slowly setting over the Inn as Chifuyu along with Maya and the operators were alone in the mission room and looking at the Holo-screen and searching for the Silver Gospel.

"It stopped…," said Maya, she was silent for some time before speaking up again "Does headquarters want us to continue with the plan?"

"…As long as we don't receive the orders to stop, we will continue," said Chifuyu stoically.

"But…what can we do now?"

There was knocking being heard from the door behind them as a voice spoke up "Excuse me,"

"Who is it?" asked Chifuyu.

"Dunois,"

The woman frowned "I told you to standby! I will not allow entry,"

Outside, Dunois was taken aback from the response and turned towards Ling, Cecelia, Penny and Laura who were with her and hoping to speak with Chifuyu on the current situation. But now they don't know what to do next, then Laura spoke up to them.

"You should do what your instructor says," said Laura stoically.

"But sensei must be worried about Naruto-kun as well," Charlotte protested, finding it hard to believe that Chifuyu wouldn't at least show concern for the blonde like she and the others are feeling at the moment.

"He hasn't regained consciousness yet, Kurami's not left his side ever since then," said Cecelia worriedly.

"After she gave orders for his treatment, she never went to see him. How could she…?" asked Ling.

They all thought back to when they found Naruto's body washed ashore and where fraught with anxiety at the sight of his condition as the medics placed him upon a stretcher, Chifuyu gave the order to treat him before leaving without another word, not even sparing Ichika or Houki a glance as she left. Laura and Ichika were aware of what Chifuyu was currently feeling and had kept it within herself but the latter was also at odds with his emotions as well.

"Then what should she have done?" asked Laura.

"She hasn't said a single word to Houki or Ichika either concerning the mission. Even though they failed the mission, isn't she acting a bit cold towards them?" said Cecelia.

"Both of them aren't saying anything either, but I can tell that they're feeling very bad," said Penny.

"We will continue searching for the gospel," said Laura then she glanced at the door "The instructors are doing what they should be doing. Even so they're feeling the pain as well, and because they do, they've shut themselves inside the operations room," she turned back to the other girls "Do you think that worrying about Naruto would destroy Gospel? But more importantly, the problem is…" they all looked at the room where Naruto laid.

Inside the room, Chifuyu clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in frustration while Maya can't seem to focus properly enough in the computer. They hadn't foreseen any of this happening in the least. They couldn't have known about the illegal fishing ship's presence or the Silverio Gospel going into Second Shift and yet it happened with one of their students being critically wounded and being treated.

In the next room, Naruto was laying on a futon with bandages on the damaged parts of the body while hooked on to various medical equipment with the heart monitor beeping rhythmically. He wasn't alone as there are three others namely Kurami, Ichika and Houki who was gazing upon the unconscious blonde with mixed emotions as they all thought back to what happened when they recovered Naruto from the sea and Chifuyu's words at all this.

" _This mission was a failure. From now on, if there are any changes in the situation, then assemble. Until then, each individual will remain on standby,"_ that was what she said before walking away without even so much as glancing their way.

 **Flashback Start  
** _"Substitute Dual Katanas!" Naruto switched the tool packs out for the katanas as he joined Ichika in deflecting the laser beams "Go after Gospel, I'll take over from here!"_

" _Got it, thanks Naruto!" Ichika flew to join Houki to engage Gospel once more._

" _Ichika you idiot! You wasted energy protecting criminals, scum like them can-," Houki was about to say more._

" _HOUKI!" Ichika yelled out, making her fall silent in shock at the tone of his voice "Houki…don't…don't say such sad things…never. After gaining power, you've lost sight of the weak…what's gotten into you Houki? This isn't like you, not at all,"_

" _ **Attack Function: Shell Shield!"**_ _a silver dome projected around Naruto right before the laser beams to successfully deflect them, he glanced over his shoulder and called out to them "Ichika, take Houki and get out of here!"_

" _But what about you?" asked Ichika._

" _I'll hold Gospel off while you make your retreat, right now you two can't fight anymore!"_

" _But-,"_

" _GO!"_

 _Ichika was hesitant but he knew that Naruto had a point "…okay, but you better catch up with us,"_

" _Gotcha, expect to see me soon," Naruto gave him a thumbs up, Ichika nodded in affirmation before reaching to grab Houki by the hand and pulled her away from the battlefield. Gospel was about to attack them but stopped and darted out of the way to avoid a slash from Naruto who was frowning behind the helmet "I'll be your opponent Gospel!"_

 **Flashback End**

" _I should have stayed back and helped then this wouldn't have happened…is this really the level of strength I gained up till now?"_ Ichika gritted his teeth in frustration, looking down his friend laying before him.

" _Was I selfishly seeking violence for pleasure?"_ Houki thought back to times she had spent with Naruto along with the others and how he often helps her out from time to time _"…and I never felt like I've truly apologized to him about what I said back then,"_

"Shinonono-san, Ichika-san," Maya emerged at the entrance and called out to them "You two should get some rest, we can't have you overexert yourselves and collapse…everyone will be worried about you,"

"Let's be here for a little longer," said Ichika.

"That is not allowed, get some rest. This is a request from Orimura-sensei," Maya refuted.

"…okay," Ichika let out a sigh, if his sister says so then he can't say no "Houki…let's go,"

"…," Houki stood to her feet and wordlessly left the room with Ichika following after her with Maya watching them leave with a saddened look.

Then she turned to see Kurami nuzzling against Naruto's cheek with a sad whine before curling up next to him, Maya would have carried her away but knew that the vixen would find her way back to him regardless and so decided to leave her with him "Please wake up soon, everyone is worried about you…I'm worried about you," then she left the room.

* * *

Deep within the mindscape, Kurami had appeared and was making her way to where she could find Naruto and his parents. Sure enough, she found them but in a rather queer situation. Minato was tending to Kushina whose clothes were torn and burnt at some parts, as for Naruto…he was encased in some of yellow crystal and appears to be deeply asleep.

" **Minato, Kushina! What's going on and what happened to Naruto?"** asked Kurami, she ran over to Naruto and attempted to claw him out of the crystal but it seems to be able to withstand the strikes of the sharp claws.

"I'm trying to figure it out as well. Ever since Naruto appeared in the mindscape, he was suddenly encased inside that crystal and I've been trying to get to him but it's as if something is blocking us from him," said Minato.

Kushina sat up with a groan "That damn IS, it completely took us by surprise with that sudden Second Shift,"

" **We have bigger things to worry about for now like how to get to Naruto and awaken him, his recovery is much slower than the other times he had been hurt despite my chakra flowing through him,"** said Kurami before turning towards the unconscious Naruto.

"I know that already, just angered at how the IS hurt Sochi-kun like that," Kushina got to her feet and approached the crystal to help.

"We need to figure out exactly what's going on first, I suspect that it has something to do the link between Naruto and Odin. If we figure it out then we can find a way to wake him up," said Minato thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a good idea as any so far," said Kushina.

* * *

…

…

…huh?

Naruto opened his eyes and slowly got to his feet, having been laying facedown on the ground. He began looking around in confusion at his current location which doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever. It looks like he was standing in the middle of a marbled street of a city and the architecture is of roman design.

"Where am I? the last thing is remember is that I was fighting Gospel to help Ichika and Houki escape when it went into Second Shift then I-" his eyes widened in realization then he tried to mentally connect with Kurami and his parents…no connection, he's blocked off! "Okay, this is not good at all," he looked at his hands to see that he only has Odin in its Closed form and was seriously damaged while Dot-Phasor is nowhere to be seen on his other hand "Oh man, so many questions and there's no answers available for them. Best I find out where I am and figure out a way to get out of here to get back to the others,"

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

His ears picked up the sound of metal hitting each other loudly and traced it to a large building structure which he recognized to be a coliseum, seeing as there's no other option so far he headed towards the sounds in hopes of finding some answers. Naruto made his way up the stairs and through the entryway into a passage to emerge on the other side where he found himself standing in a battlefield…and he wasn't alone.

Before Naruto is a lone figure bearing resemblance to that of a roman centurion donning bronze armor and a helmet with red plume, he was also equipped with a round shield, a broadsword sheathed to his waist and a spear in hand. The warrior stood silently before Naruto but he could tell that he was looking at him rather intently.

"Uh who are you and where is this place?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"… _,"_ warrior remained silent, leaving Naruto at a loss of words then he noticed him pointing his spear in a certain direction. Naruto looked to see a spear staked to the ground with a broadsword and a shield propped up against it " _Arm thyself and show me thine mettle in battle,"_

"You want to fight me? But I don't have time for this!" Naruto retorted.

"… _,"_

"Ugh fine, guess I'm gonna have to make you talk since you're not gonna say anything else," Naruto walked over to the weapons and equipped himself, he turned round to see that the centurion had taken a combat stance in preparation for the oncoming battle "Guess you really want to fight me, then let's go!"

Both combatants rushed at each other and clashed shields to engage in a heated battle.

* * *

Over at the beach with the sun slowly setting, Houki was standing at the beach and looking down at the sandy ground with feelings guilt. She reminisced to the first time she had met Ichika in her families' dojo when they were kids, she was often pestered by other kids for being a tomboy for quite some time until she met Ichika who came to her defense and they became friends until the day she moved away. She raised her left hand to look at the Closed form of Akatsubaki, recalling her arrogance upon attaining it and the consequences. She was suddenly snapped out of her reverie when someone called out to her from behind

"Houki!" she recognized the voice to be Ling who spoke once more "You're so easy to understand…isn't it not your fault that Naruto ended up like that because you got all cocky with that fancy IS of yours?"

"…," Houki didn't reply.

"So you're going to make this 'Oh I'm so depressed' look?" Ling frowned in annoyance as she approached Houki to grab the collar of her uniform to force her to stare face to face "Don't mess with me! Don't you have something you should do? How can you not fight now of all times?!"

Houki remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking up "I'm no longer…going to pilot an IS,"

*Whap*

Houki fell to the sandy ground with a red mark of a handprint on her cheek from the slap which Ling delivered with an angered look on her face.

"Don't get mushy over this, those who possess a personal IS are in no position to have such selfishness forgiven. Are you a coward who can't fight when you're supposed to?" asked Ling with a glare.

Houki turned to glare back at her "What should I do? We no longer know where the enemy is, I could fight then I would fight!"

Ling's frown soon turned into a smile "So you finally have the willpower," she looked to the side for Houki to also turn and saw Cecelia, Laura, Charlotte and Ichika standing close by much to her surprise.

"Wha…what?" Houki was confused at all this.

"Just saying, the one feeling like that isn't just you. Ichika himself was planning on going after Gospel too and came to us for help," said Charlotte.

"Ichika too?"

"I wasn't planning on leaving things as it is, Chifuyu-nee will get mad at me but I haven't forgotten the reason why I became an IS pilot," said Ichika determinedly.

"Ichika-san has point there, we can't let it end in our loss," said Cecelia "Naruto-kun would have done the same thing if he was awake with his Dot-Phasor,"

"Everyone…," Houki felt touched at all this and was even more determined to see this through to the end…for Naruto.

Cecelia turned to Laura "Can you give us the current location of Gospel?"

"Already confirmed," Laura held out her hand to summon the gauntlet part of her IS to project three Holo-screens which displayed several maps and a radar "In the sky, 30 kilometers offshore the target has been confirmed. Although it was in stealth mode, it seems to have no optical camouflage. It was visually discovered by satellite,"

"Just as expected of the German special military force," said Ling appraisingly

"What about you? Are you all prepared?"

"Naturally, Shenlong's special attack package has finished installing,"

"I've finished preparations over here too," said Cecelia.

"I'm okay as well, I can go at any time," Charlotte spoke up.

"The shield energy of Byakushiki is fully restored as well, Penny is staying behind to look after Naruto," said Ichika.

"Wait, you're all coming along?" asked Houki confusedly, she thought that only she and Ichika would be the ones going.

"So? You told us that you're going to 'fight' as well, right?" said Ling.

"What will you do?" asked Laura.

"I will…I will…FIGHT!" said Houki.

Ichika nodded in agreement "That's right, and we won't retreat this time!"

Night fell with the moon radiating its dull light in the sky as the group in their IS flew towards the current location of their target, they soon came across Gospel which was currently surrounded within a green energy field far ahead of them. Laura equipped herself with her railgun and took aim before firing a powerful blast to strike it and trigger an explosion.

"First Blood!" Laura called out.

"Everyone, get ready!" Ichika called out while gripping his sword tightly, everyone complied and armed themselves as well.

Back at the Operations room, Chifuyu and Maya were witnessing all this with the latter being shocked at their students' recklessness.

"Sensei, this is!" said Maya.

"Those guys…," Chifuyu frowned at the screen.

"They're going against orders! Call them back!"

"Maybe I already knew that this was going to happen," said Chifuyu.

"I'll continue the bombardment!" Laura resumed firing her railgun at Gospel with the IS swiftly evading the shots "It's faster than I thought!" she kept shooting but the Gospel was rapidly approaching and thrust out a claw to grab her but it got blindsided by a blue blur, revealing it to be Cecelia who took aim with her sniper rifle and fired at it as well. Gospel was quick to recover and took evasive action to avoid getting hit whilst analyzing the threat level and switched to offensive.

"Got it!" Charlotte swooped from above to fire rapidly with her dual shotguns, able to land the first strike with the follow-ups began missing with each shot and dove after it in pursuit while switching to a sub machinegun and ready to fire, but she quickly had to project a green energy shield to defend against the incoming barrage of laser beams from Gospel "I won't fall from just that much!"

Ling flew past and was firing her Impact Cannons rapidly in an effort to draw closer to engage it in close combat, which almost proved to be her undoing when Gospel prepared to launch a large energy beam from point-blank but cancelled it out to evade a slash from behind by Ichika. The duo gave chase to continue with the assault.

* * *

Naruto grunted from the impact of the shield bash from the centurion and retaliated with rapid jabs of his spear but were being blocked by his opponent's shield before backing away to recover slightly. He had been fighting the centurion for quite some time and found him to be very skilled throughout the battle, he got cut a few times but was able to land some hits of his own on him.

"Man this guy is tough, is this how strong these romans are back then?" Naruto muttered to himself, Naruto jumped to the side to evade the spear thrown at him and looked to see the centurion charging at him with sword in hand. Naruto threw his spear to take him out from long range but it was deflected by the shield so he unsheathed his blade as well and clashed in the middle with both warriors struggling to push the other.

"… _what be the reason thou fights?"_ asked the centurion.

"It goes without saying, I fight to protect the people close to my heart. A friend once told me that when I have something precious to protect, that's when I become very strong. He believed that I would get very strong," Naruto looked into the eyes hidden behind the helmet of the centurion, memories of when he fought Gaara to protect Sakura, using the completed Rasengan to protect Tsunade from Kabuto, defeating Doto to protect Koyuki "And he's right, I've formed bonds with even more and I'm determined to protect them…for they are the source of my strength!" he pushed the centurion back with all his might and prepared for the next round but the centurion simply stood there and sheathed his sword much to the blonde's confusion.

" _Thou has proven thy worth, step forward and receive the means to adhere to thine creed,"_ the centurion held his hand out for a silver orb to appear hovering above the palm.

"Hold on, you mean that you were testing me all along? Just who are you?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"… _,"_

"Ugh, the silent treatment again. Alright then," Naruto approached the centurion when the orb suddenly flew towards Naruto and fused itself with the red bracelet, causing it to glow brightly "What's this…energy flowing through my body!"

" _Go forth and fall thy foes alongside thy comrades,"_ said the centurion as the glow died down to reveal Naruto being gone.

Back at the mindscape, Kurami and the others were still trying to break through the crystal when suddenly cracks began appearing all over it much to their surprise.

" **W-What's going on now?"** asked Kurami confusedly.

"I have no idea, but it looks like he's about to emerge from the crystal," said Minato, Kushina didn't say anything as she noticed that her body was emitting a silver aura and her body was somehow recovering.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crash*

The crystal burst apart into millions of pieces, making everyone shield their faces before looking again to see Naruto hovering in the air with his eyes still closed before softly landing on the ground. Naruto opened his eyes and smiled upon seeing Kurami and his parents with the former joyfully hugging him.

" **Naru-kun, I'm so glad that you're okay now!"** said Kurami happily.

"Us too, we were very worried," said Minato with a look of relief.

"What happened in there?" asked Kushina.

"We'll have to catch up on this later, right now the others need our help. They've gone to fight Gospel again," said Naruto, causing their eyes to widen in shock.

"Then you'll be needing Dot-Phasor and I," said Minato.

"No need, Odin and I will going once more, this time we aren't going to lose!" Naruto held up the still glowing bracelet with eyes of determination.

* * *

Things are looking bad for Ichika and the group, Gospel has proven itself to be more than a match as it has currently taken out Ling, Laura and Cecelia while having just knocked out Charlotte before turning its focus towards Ichika who was putting up his best defense against the rampaging IS alongside Houki but is having no such luck.

" _Tch, just how strong is it?! I gotta find a way to turn this fight around! I need more power!"_ thought Ichika.

" _Do you desire power?"_ a feminine voice spoke within his mind, surprising him.

"Who said that?" asked Ichika.

" _Do you desire power, and for what reason do you desire it?"_ asked the voice again. Ichika was so caught up with the voice that he failed to notice that Gospel was charging up another attack and fired an energy beam his way.

"Ichika, watch out!" Houki zoomed in to push him out of the way and attempted to block with her katanas but the blast was too much for her and she was sent plummeting to the ground.

"Houki! Dammit!" Ichika activated the Reiraku Byakuya once more to attack, risking it to take it down, Gospel was long since aware of the technique and had been defending against it the whole time and so maintained its distance and firing salvos of laser beams while Ichika kept defending and wasn't able to get any closer until the energy blade dissipated much to his frustration.

"Byakushiki's energy is at 10%!" said Maya worriedly "Isn't the communication back up yet?!"

"It's useless, it's probably cut off on their side," said Chifuyu with a frown. Suddenly the doors were slammed opened and Penny and Kurami came running inside along with Nohotoke and her friends.

"Orimura-sensei!"

"Don't interrupt me, we're in the middle of an operation!"

"We know, but Naru's…he's gone!" said Nohotoke worriedly, shocking the others in the room.

"What? But he was unconscious!"

"We're picking up another IS heading for Ichika and Gospel at high-speed!" said one of the operators, everyone turned towards the main Holo-screen to see what appears to be a silver comet flying at speeds possibly exceeding that of Akatsubaki.

"Identify the IS immediately!" Chifuyu commanded.

"Already underway, it's-,"

Ichika backed away from Gospel which had enlarged its wings and was about to constrict him just like it had done to some of the others, he braced for it when a silver flash zipped by and slammed hard into Gospel to send it flying far from him before turning around so he could see it clearly. It bears the appearance of a roman centurion with a color scheme of silver color with blue accents including a helmet resembling that of a gladiator's but with a long horn protruding from the front and is also equipped with jet plane wings and other related flight gear.

"Ichika, are you okay?" a familiar voice spoke up, causing Ichika's eyes to widen in shock.

"That voice…could it be?" thought Ichika, he saw the helmet open up to reveal an all too familiar face "Naruto?!"

Said blonde grinned in response "In the flesh pal, sorry I took so long. Had to take a power nap to recharge a bit, but now I'm here to back you up with an upgrade. Now you and the others rest up for a bit while I have another chat with our friend over there," the helmet closed up on his face as he turned towards Gospel and charged at it with great speed "Hey tin can! Remember me? Time for round 2!" Naruto stretched his hands out "Equip Dual Katanas!" then said weapons appeared in his grip, one possess no hilt as blue electricity flows through it and the other is hilted with a red blade and red electricity arcs through it **(HF Blade and HF Murasame from Metal Gear Rising)**. Naruto quickly caught up with Gospel and engaged in close combat as they clashed again and again but this time the blonde was keeping up with the rogue IS.

Everyone at the operations room sans Chifuyu was surprised at the new appearance of Naruto's IS and the fact that he's capable of combat, Maya was analyzing the specs of the IS and was surprised at the data.

"Naruto-kun's IS has gone into Second Shift, it's now Odin Mk2!" said Maya in wonder.

"Naru's IS has totally changed and is even keeping up with Gospel!" said Nohotoke in wonder of the battle.

"…," Chifuyu remained silent and continued to watch.

Gospel quickly distanced itself from the opponent before launching a barrage of laser beams from its energy wings towards Naruto who was more than ready for the attack "Substitute Restraighter and Neo Beam Guarder!" a much more powerful twin-bladed beam lance appeared on his right hand while a metal buckler radiating green energy in the form of an octangular kite shield appeared on his left forearm. Naruto held the buckler before him for the energy shield to elongate and protect him from the incoming projectiles then boosted towards Gospel while still defending till he got close to lash out with a thrust of the beam lance only for it to grab it with both hands. Gospel was about to fire at point blank but Naruto aimed the Neo Beam Guarder to unleash a powerful blast of energy to knock it away from him.

Two blade bits swooped in from above and struck Gospel from behind before it knocked them away to return to Houki who flew up next to Naruto and was shocked to see him "Naruto, you're okay?"

"Yeah, I came to help take this IS out once and for all," Naruto responded with Ichika flying up to them.

Gospel made to attack them but blasts of energy were aiming its way, forcing it to take evasive action revealing the attacks to be coming from Laura's railgun as she and Cecelia flew up to meet them, both were happy to see that Naruto was there with them and in good health.

"Sorry, recovery took time," Laura smiled at Naruto "And it's good to see that you're okay now,"

"All right, it's time for a counterattack," said Cecelia, Ling and Charlotte were the next to arrive.

"Let's take care of them!" said Ling with a smirk.

Charlotte nodded in agreement "I've still got enough energy left for this,"

"Everyone…yeah, let's go for it!" Naruto took off at high-speed with the others soon to follow after him.

The sun begins to rise as everyone in the operations room watched with bated breath for the end results of the battle between the personal IS users and Silver Gospel.

 **Music Start: Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 OST; Boss: Solaris Phase 2  
** "Here I come Gospel!" Naruto rushed up to the IS and unleashed a barrage of rapid jabs with some of the strikes being able to land, Gospel lashed out with its clawed hands but Naruto sharply deflected them with his Neo Beam Guarder and retaliated with a roundhouse kick to knock it back **"Attack Function: Glorious Ray!"** his beam lance suddenly transforms into ray lance then, he rapidly ascended to absorb energy from the surroundings to the lance. After it absorbs all the needed energy, Naruto then swung his lance to unleash the absorbed energy into laser rays unto Gospel with the IS attempting to evade but got struck by most of them.

"Take this!" Ling rapidly flew up to Gospel and was firing rapidly with her Impact Cannons before attacking with her Souten Gagetsu in close range but missed and was forced to retreat from the salvo of laser beams, Charlotte was quick to provide support by firing at Gospel with her dual sub-machineguns while Laura attempted to restrain it with her wired daggers but missed due to its annoying speed.

"Dammit, my shield energy's too low!" Ichika gritted his teeth in annoyance due to his earlier failed attempt to take Gospel out with the Reiraku Byakuya before Naruto showed, but now he can't use his One-Off ability again "If only I had some energy left to finish this,"

"Ichika!" he turned to see Houki flying up to him "Take this!" she grabbed his hand as Akatsubaki began emitting a golden aura which also enshrouded Byakushiki, Ichika looked at his HUD and was stunned at what's happening.

"What? My shield energy is fully recharged?" Ichika looked at her in confusion "But how?"

"It's Akatsubaki's One-Off ability, Kenran Butō! I can use it to recharge shield energy," Houki replied.

"Then that means that I can use the Reiraku Byakuya again, we now have a higher chance to win this thanks to you Houki!" said Ichika in realization "Let's do this!" he flew at Gospel with Houki overtaking him and swung Amatsuki to launch a barrage of red laser beams, Charlotte and Laura quickly moved out of the way for Gospel to get hit but the projectiles missed their with the IS retaliating by firing a large energy towards the duo.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto flew in between them and prepared an attack **"Attack Function: Lightning Lance!"** he twirled the lance and it charges the energy as blinding bright flash. The lance becomes encapsulated into the energy, and Naruto throws it at the incoming beam to pierce through it and strike Gospel once more "Substitute Assault Rifle!" he switched the lance and shield out for the firearm which is different from the first one **(Bullseye Mark II from Resistance 2)** and pulled the trigger to fire blue colored shots with Gospel evading the shots as he tries to keep a bit on it.

"Haaaaah!" Houki rapidly approached from its left side and clashed blades with it "Ichika, take out now!"

"I'm on it!" Ichika swooped towards them with his Reiraku Byakuya active and ready to strike, however Gospel fired laser beams at Houki and kicked away before turning to fire a larger laser beam at Ichika, he took evasive action to prevent the attack from hitting him "Laura, I could use some help!"

"Leave it to me!" Laura has positioned her on a small isle and fired multiple rounds from her railgun, Ichika attempted to strike while it was momentarily distracted but Gospel dodged quickly before swooping towards Laura to shoot laser beams at her but got blindsided by Naruto who grabbed on with one hand.

"Where do you think you're looking at? **Bullseye Tag**!" he fired a large blue orb which stuck onto its chest and swung round to throw it away from it before firing rapidly once more with the shots homing in on the orb and inflicting consecutive damage. Gospel hardly had time to recover when it got pelted from behind by blue laser beam shots and looked behind to see Cecelia nearby with her bits hovering around her.

"I'm over here!" Cecelia commanded her bits to fired once more, Gospel was about to retaliate but it got hit again by Ling's Impact Cannons which was soon followed with Houki swinging Karaware to launch a red beam slash from the side. The rogue IS launched another salvo of laser beams towards Ling who was quickly saved by Charlotte with her energy shield.

"You guys hurry, I can't hold on much longer!" Charlotte called out to the others.

Naruto's mind raced for a way to take Gospel out for the count and soon came upon one as he sent away the rifle and summoned the red katana blade "Ichika, take this!" he threw the blade towards Ichika for him to catch it with his other hand.

"What do I do with it?" asked Ichika confusedly.

"We're going to finish Gospel together, just follow my lead!" Naruto then activated one of his more powerful attacks **"Attack Function: Double Ray Wing!"** he had Odin transform into its new Jet Mode before rapidly accelerating "Now hop on!" Ichika immediately complied and stood atop the IS with both swords spread out as they were enshrouded in golden energy, they rose into the air with a loud sonic boom with the energy taking on the shape of a fiery phoenix which let out a screech before flying towards its target with great speed. Gospel took off in an attempt to avoid it but the phoenix rapidly caught up and slammed into it, triggering a massive explosion for a few moments before Ichika and Naruto in default mode emerged as a critically damaged Gospel plummeted to the sea.

 **Music End**

"…we did it," Ichika muttered out loud.

Odin's helmet folded back to reveal Naruto smiling "Yup, we won and with style!" he held a fist out to Ichika for him to bump it with his while smiling too before handing the katana back to him.

[Congratulations son, we're so proud of you] said Minato fondly.

[We won, we totally got back at that IS dattebane!] said Kushina.

"So it's finally over," said Houki as she and the others hovered close to them.

"Yeah…," said Ichika.

" **But now you all have a new problem when you get back,"** said Kurami.

* * *

Later that day, all of the Personal IS users were all standing silently before a stoic Chifuyu and a nervous Maya. Despite justified reasoning and successfully completing the mission, it doesn't change the fact that they acted against orders and they were very nervous about what their teachers were going to say.

"I wish to say that this mission operation was completed perfectly, however you all committed a severe offense," they gulped inwardly at Chifuyu's words.

"Yes, ma'am," they responded quietly.

"As soon as we return, you will complete a contemplative report. Furthermore, special punishment duty is being prepared, so keep that in mind,"

" _Oh man, I'm so not looking forward to whatever punishment they have in mind,"_ thought Naruto with a wince.

[Well, it's too be expected with these kind of missions. It's no different from the high ranked missions back in Konoha] said Minato.

[But it's somehow unfair, they risked a lot for this mission] Kushina complained.

" **We can hope that it isn't that severe,"** said Kurami as she sat atop Naruto's shoulders with her tail wrapped around his neck.

"Um, Orimura-sensei," Maya spoke up "After everything that just happened, everyone must be pretty tired,"

Chifuyu turned to the pilots "However, I should say…well done,"

"Huh?" Naruto and the others were rather surprised to hear that, they noticed a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"Well, good job coming back safely, crew. You've earned yourself a break for today," Chifuyu looked at Naruto for a few moments before walking away with Maya smiling fondly at them then following after her.

" _Wow, she does have a cute side of her,"_ thought Naruto, he yelped in pain from Kurami nipping his ear "What was that for Kurami-chan?"

" **Hmph,"** the vixen looked away from him with a huff.

"Anyways, I need to go and check up on Sonia-chan. I'm sure she must be worried," said Naruto.

[It's best you do that, it's a good thing that you left with the other girls in the inn] said Kushina.

Naruto left the others to check on Sonia which was a good call, apparently she was very worried about him since he went of that mission of theirs so he made it up by taking her for a walk around and spend time with just the two of them which made her more than happy at that. Naruto also contacted Fabio to send him the data on the Odin MK II and boy was the man surprised at the new specs which the IS possesses in its Second Shift, he himself was looking through the new additions of the Attack Function plus he also noticed that a majority of his weapons had gotten a serious upgrade as if making up for what the previous ones lacked and planned to test them out once they got back to the academy.

Naruto also had a conversation with Kurami and his parents about what had happened with he was encased within the crystal, there were many speculations about that but they weren't getting anything solid with one being that there's some sort of sentiency with the IS but they aren't sure about it. Soon enough, the day comes to an end and everyone is having dinner, some of the girls were pestering Cecelia and the others about how the mission had gone much to their curiosity.

"Hey hey! What was it after all? The origin of Gospel's rampage, I mean," asked one of the girls.

"Was it not really piloted by anyone?" asked another.

"Weren't you scare when you were fighting?" asked Nohotoke.

"Please tell us since the teachers refuse to say more,"

"That's not possible, since we were told that it was classified information," said Charlotte.

"I mean, we weren't given detailed information either," said Ling.

"Besides, if information of the operation were revealed to you, your freedom of movement would probably be restricted, is that what you want?" said Laura, hearing that made the girls a bit nervous.

"Uh, that sounds scary," said one of the girls.

"I'd hate to be assigned to guard duty or something," said the other.

"Ummm, where's Naru? I wanted to ask him about how his IS became cooler," asked Nohotoke, looking around for the whiskered blonde.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him either since he came back from his outing with Sonia-chan," said Cecelia.

"Ichika and Houki aren't here either," said Ling.

"I don't think he's in his room since I saw him in the hallways," said Penny.

* * *

Naruto was currently walking along the rocky shores of the beachside as the waves crashed against them to splash water around as he was wearing his unbuttoned tropical shirt and swimming trunks as Kurami sat on his shoulders like always, he hopped along the rocks before landing on the outermost one and sat down to look up to the moon glowing faintly in the starry night sky with a lighthouse a certain distance away shining its light around.

"The moon sure is beautiful, isn't it Kurami-chan?" said Naruto.

" **It sure is, Naru-kun,"** Kurami purred in bliss when Naruto scratched behind her ears.

"This mission was quite something, it made me begin to wonder what the IS from other countries specialize in. the thought of facing any of them gives me shivers of anticipation," Naruto looked at the red bracelet which has silver markings on it now to signify its status of being in Second Shift. His ears suddenly picked up the sounds of footsteps to see Tabane approaching him "Tabane-chan?"

"Hi Naruto-kun, I saw you roaming about so I followed you!" said Tabane cheerfully then she moved over to sit next to him.

"I see…so I don't need to ask if you saw how the mission went," said Naruto with a soft smile.

"Yeah, your IS was amazing especially its power in Second Shift! It could contend with Akatsubaki!" Tabane then looked a bit sad "But I was really worried when Gospel attacked you that badly back then, your condition really scared me,"

"Sorry if I worried you but as you can see, I'm okay now," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

"But it's amazing that your IS capable of healing your body and then going into Second Shift like, it reminds me of an IS which I built before,"

"Really? Maybe you can tell me more about it,"

"I would love to…but first things first," there was a glint in Tabane's eye.

"Huh? What do you-whoa!" Naruto was suddenly pushed to the ground with Tabane sitting on his chest and looking down at him with a look of mischief which he recognizes as he often has that look whenever he has a prank in mind.

" **What are you doing?!"** Kurami yipped at her in anger.

"I haven't forgotten the main reason why I came here, Naruto-kun," said Tabane playfully.

"…!" Naruto realized what she meant and paled "No…not that! Anything but that!"

"It's too late now!"

"No don't!" Tabane began softly rubbing her fingers against Naruto's whisker marks on his cheeks, making his eyes close halfway and a soft growl could be heard as Naruto purred from her touch.

"Ohhhh, you sound much cuter than I thought! I think I'll do a little more!" Tabane continued rubbing against the whisker marks to make him purr again, Kushina and Kurami were enjoying the show with the latter being halfhearted while Minato could only sympathize with his son's embarrassing moment. Naruto managed to fight off the soothing sensation and mildly push Tabane back to stop her.

"Cut it out, I don't like that!" Naruto protested.

"Awwwww, but you sound so cute," Tabane reached out to his cheeks but Naruto grabbed her hands to stop her.

"No means no, it's embarrassing and…huh?" Naruto looked up to see something familiar and his eyes widened in surprise before moving himself and Tabane in time to avoid a blue laser beam "What the…!" he looked up at the moment lighthouse shone its light to reveal Cecelia, Ling, Laura and Charlotte hovering in the air in there is as they all had angry expressions, making him feel a sense of Déjà vu and definitely not the good kind.

"Did you think that we wouldn't find you?" Laura aimed her railgun at Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, what do you thinking you're doing?" Charlotte cocked her sub-machinegun.

"All right, let's kill him!" Ling had a scary look in her eyes as she held the Souten Gagetsu in her hands.

Cecelia simply giggled as she deployed her bits and targeted them at Naruto who was sweating by the gallons while Tabane simply giggled at all this.

[Son, get out of there right now!] Minato yelled in a panic.

[Awww, they're all jealous] said Kushina amusedly, seeing as cute that they like Naruto that much.

" **Tch, wish they were aiming at her instead,"** Kurami pouted.

Naruto didn't need to be told as he quickly scooped up Tabane in his arms "Hang on, Tabane-chan! We're getting out of here!" he ran as fast as he was permitted to with Cecelia firing at them as she and the others gave chase.

"Get back here, Naruto!" Ling yelled.

"Stop right there!" Cecelia kept shooting at them.

"Stop!" Charlotte was also shooting at the duo.

"You're not paying enough attention to being my wife!" said Laura sternly.

"Hahahahaha, this is so much fun!" said Tabane giddily.

"No it isn't!" Naruto cried anime tears as he ran _"I'm nothing like Pervy Sage and yet I'm in situation similar to when he gets caught in the women's bathhouses! Why me?!"_

Somewhere atop the cliffs, Chifuyu was watching all this happen and simply shook her head "Yare yare, what a noisy bunch we have…especially with him around," she smiled in amusement. Ichika and Houki saw Naruto run past with Tabane in his arms as the others were chasing after them in there is.

"What's going on with them?" asked Ichika.

"I have no idea, but I get the feeling that Onee-san is somehow involved," said Houki.

* * *

 **This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto was pulled into a deeper state of conscious where he meets some sort of spirit and engaged him in combat as he laid in the medical station. Houki was fraught with guilt over what happened and it took Ling and the others to help restore her fighting spirit as they went to face Silver Gospel once more against orders, things weren't looking too good until the timely arrival a fully recovered Naruto piloting an evolved form of Odin to help turn the tide of the battle and emerging victorious.**

 **Despite everything, things have changed for the better but the question now on everyone's mind is…what's going to happen next?**

 **Odin (with Kushina's core)  
Second Shift: Odin MK 2 (Active)  
One Off Ability: WX Mode  
Firearms: Dual semi-automatic handguns, Assault Rifle, Rocket Launcher  
Armaments: Restraighter, Neo Beam Guarder, Dual HF Katanas, Zanbatou (Zabuza's sword)**

 **Dot-Phasor with flight capabilities (with Minato's core)  
Second Shift: Dot-Blastrizer  
One Off Ability: Overload  
Armaments: Multi Gimmick Sack (Z-lance, Z-hammer, Z-shooter, Z-sword, Z-rifle, Z-shield), Dot Gatling gun**

 **This is Hussbek from Ghana.**

 **Signing out.**


End file.
